The Biola men’s and women’s cross-country teams competed together for the first time
in 12 years at the 2011 NAIA Cross-Country National Championships on Saturday, Nov. 19 at Fort Vancouver Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash.

Women place 12th, men 26th at NAIA championships

The Eagles capped off an impressive season with the women scoring 391
points to take 12th place making it their fifth-consecutive top-12 finish at the national championships. The men’s team racked in 617 points to finish in 26th place out of 32 teams in field.

The race site provided a tough course for the competitors.

“At first glance the course may not seem very challenging because it is all on grass and there are no large hills, but that first glance is very deceiving,” senior Nychele Fischetti said. “The course was very difficult. [It] was very windy and has a hill right before the last 100 meters of the race that made it very challenging to finish strong.”

Despite the difficulties, Fischetti noted that the team was completely prepared for the
course.

“[We knew] the bottom line was that we just needed to get out there and compete to the best of our abilities for the glory of God,” she said.

Fischetti stands out in Biola’s strong finish

The women made another impressive showing with Fischetti placing 46th overall in a time of 19:04. Freshman Jessica Marquardt followed behind in 60th overall with a time of 19:19, followed by senior Carissa Bowman taking 69th in 19:25.

Rounding out Biola’s top seven were senior Jane Kerner in 89th, freshman Carrie Soholt in 127th, sophomore Chelsea Janzen in 149th place with junior Rachel Stump closing it out in 161st place.

Christensen earns All-America honors following impressive race

Leading the men’s team to their finish was senior Collin Christensen coming in 29th
place out of 312 runners. Christensen finished in 25:02, qualifying him to earn All-
American honors. Freshman Kevin Horchler came in second for Biola on the men’s side, finishing in 136th place overall at 26:34, followed by sophomore Danny Ledesma in 137th.

Finishing up Biola’s top seven on the men’s side were junior Spencer Lyle coming in 149th, senior Brian Aukshunas coming in 166th, freshman Andrew Daedler at 175th and junior Joseph Harabedian in 207th place.

“Having the men’s team with us was so much fun,” Fischetti said. “The night after the
race a couple of the guys even went as far to buy each girl on the team a rose, which
was so sweet of them.”

The women’s team at California State University San Marcos took home its third consecutive title while Oklahoma Christian University took the title on the men’s side. This closes what has been a tremendous season for the Eagles. The team will be losing seven seniors, but many of them will still compete when track and field opens up its season at the end of January.