At a recent cross country meet in Georgia, Luke Hudson, a runner for Providence Christian Academy, knew helping a fallen runner was more important than finishing a race.

From WXIA:

Luke Hudson, a sophomore at Providence Christian Academy, received a special medal for good sportsmanship after stopping his own cross country race to help a competitor in need.

It happened on Saturday during the Wesleyan Invitational at the Wesleyan School in Norcross.

Roswell High School's Jacob Brunner began to struggle about 100 yards from the finish as he battled "some sort of bug," according to Coach David Evans.

Luke saw Jacob collapse from exhaustion and decided to stop and help him finish the race. 

"This is the type of person that Luke is," said Coach Chris Stephens. "It was a moment where I wasn't coaching Luke. He was coaching me and everyone else about the importance of your fellow man. Luke chose to sacrifice himself and his placing, doing exactly what God called him to do.

Luke was declared "Champion of Character" for the meet.

Per NFHS Rule 8.7e.1 Both competitors shall be disqualified unless a competitor is injured or becomes ill and an appropriate health-care professional is not available, then only the injured/ill competitor is disqualified.

There may be occasions when a competitor is needing assistance to confirm his/her health status or to arrive to a location for health care. Should another competitor assist, such competitor shall not be disqualified, only the assisted competitor shall be disqualified for not completing the race unassisted.