Dawson County High School graduate, Emily Beusse, helped lead the University of North Georgia's cross country team to a second place finish in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championships.

The 6,000-meter event was held at the University of Montevallo.

This is the first time that the Nighthawk program has qualified for nationals.

North Georgia earned 90 points to finish 30 points behind Peach Belt Conference member school Montevallo and one point ahead of third place finisher Wingate.

Beusse ran the best race of her career with an 11th place finish and a time of 23:07.

"I'm just beside myself," Beusse said. "This is so hard to believe that as a senior we are going to nationals. We set the bar high and we didn't want to settle for third, but for second place after the conference race. I probably ran the best race of my life knowing that it could have been my last race ever. I'm so happy and proud of our team."

The Dawsonville native is a senior at the college.

It was a great race for Beusse, who had been fighting a sore throat all week. As it turned out she found out, after the race, that she had strep throat.

"I told the other runners that, not to sound conceited, this could be my last race. I told them that it wasn't going to be and we can't let that happen. As it turned out it was my best race as a collegiate athlete. I was so happy for our team that we qualified for nationals."

Teammate Brittany Truitt finished highest for North Georgia with an eighth place finish and a time of 23:02.

Also having great races for North Georgia were Ellie Tanner, Maggie Tindol, Alyssa Sale, Jenna Tilton and Caitlyn Connell.

Catie Byrd of Queens, N.C. won the individual title with a time of 21:56.

Because of their top-25 finish, Truitt, Beusse, Tanner and Tindol were each named to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Region team.

Now it's on to Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky. for the Division II National Championships on Dec. 6.

"It is going to be such a great experience for myself and our team in Louisville. I can't wait to get there and race," Beusse said.