Freshman Lyndee Dawson, sophomore Anika Gasner and junior Carrie Soholt stay together during the California Baptist University Lancer Invitational on September 7. The Aztec Invitational proved successful for the girls this week as they took home a second place finish. | Courtesy of Jessi Kung

Biola’s cross-country teams competed excellently in the San Diego State Aztec Invitational on Saturday as the men took home first overall and the women placed second. 

The Aztec Invitational is not a meet that the men compete in regularly on a year-to-year basis. The men took only five runners to represent Biola.

Senior Danny Ledesma secured a first place finish overall with a time of 27:07. Freshman Brandon Bertz and juniors Kevin Horchler and Andrew Daedler were right behind Ledesma to take second, third and fourth place, all with the same time of 27:08.

“We realized the position we were in during the middle of the race. We had our top four guys in front, and we decided during the race to run as a pack,” Daedler said. “We wanted to cross the finish line as a group. The goal was to finish as a team.”

Finishing up for Biola’s roster was sophomore Shane Brinson. Brinson’s time of 28:34 put him in 11th place.

The men are now focusing on their next meet on Oct. 12 for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Pre-Nationals meet.

“At this point we are focusing on everyone staying healthy and running more as a pack,” Daedler said. “Our focus going into the Pre-Nats is getting solid training and having everyone on the team step up.”

The women also competed admirably in the meet. The team placed second overall in the meet that included NCAA teams.

“We have a younger team, and we were racing against some major D1 schools,” junior Carrie Soholt said. “I think that being able to be bold and courageous about the fact that we were going against these teams and taking them head-on was good for us.”

Biola’s top finishers were sophomore Kellian Hunt at 18:21 in tenth place and junior Carrie Soholt right behind Hunt to place 12th at 18:47.

Senior Chelsea Janzen and freshman Lyndsee Dawson both finished with a time of 18:51 to come in 14th and 15th.  The women’s final runner was sophomore Anika Gasner at 19:15.

The women look to compete in the Vanguard Invitational on Oct. 12, which will be held on the same course that will host the Golden State Athletic Conference meet.

“It’s the same course that we will be running on for GSAC so we want to get used to the course and put a good foot forward with that race,” Soholt said. “The main goal is to get familiar with the course and have a mental prep for GSAC.”

Both the men and the women head back out to the track on Oct. 12, as the ladies will run at the Vanguard Invitation and the men will run at the NAIA Pre-Nationals Invitational in Kansas.