MACON, Ga. | The Columbus State University Women's Cross Country team will compete on Saturday (Nov. 7) at the Peach Belt Conference Cross Country Championship after a few weeks off. Middle Georgia State University will host the women's 5K at 10:15 a.m. ET at the Georgia Premier Cross Country Course.

The Cougars finished seventh at last year's Peach Belt Championship and opened the 2026 season with three straight top-three team finishes. Hadiya Ali led Columbus State in the first two meets, placing ninth in 20:52.12 as the Cougars finished second at the Julius Johnson Invitational in Macon. She followed with a sixth-place finish in 20:17.40 at the Willie Laster Invitational, where CSU took third. 

Layla Albright placed seventh at Willie Laster before leading the Cougars in their final three regular-season meets. She ran 19:50.7 to finish 12th at the UNG XC Invitational, helping CSU place third. Albright also led Columbus State with a 24:11.20 in the 6K at the Georgia Tech Invitational, where the Cougars placed 14th, and a 20:29.8 in the 5K at the Upstate Invitational, where CSU finished 28th. 

Anna Norton scored for Columbus State in all five regular-season meets. She placed 15th at Julius Johnson, 12th at Willie Laster and 20th at UNG with a time of 20:14.8. Norton was the third Cougar across the line at Georgia Tech and the second at Upstate, where she ran 20:41.4. 

The Cougars return to Macon tomorrow looking to build on last year's seventh-place finish at the Peach Belt Championship.