Biola’s cross-country teams dominated in the NAIA West Coast Jamboree. The women took the first-place spot by a wide margin, and the men finished with strong times to come in third place overall.
The women placed first with a total of 32 points. The Master’s College came in second with a total of 57 points. This meet marks the third time this season that the women’s team brought home a first place finish.
Sophomore Kellian Hunt was the first runner to cross the finish line for the Eagles. Hunt came in second with a time of 17:50.2 and junior Carrie Soholt was not long after with a time of 18:02.7.
“We wanted to go in there and do what we do each time. We wanted to go in there and race as a team and run as close together as possible,” Soholt said. “We had our eyes on the top teams like Cal State San Marcos and The Master’s and we wanted to try to get ahead of them. We wanted to race well so we could have a good momentum into GSAC and nationals.”
The women had five runners in the top 11 spots. Senior Chelsea Janzen was the next runner to cross the finish line at 18:22.2 to earn seventh place. Freshman Lyndee Dawson took ninth with a time of 18:39.2.
EYE ON THE PRIZE
The women are looking to get their second straight first-place finish in the Golden State Athletic Conference meet. This year the championship race will be hosted by Vanguard University on Fairview Park, a course that both teams have already competed on.
“I think knowing the course gives you more confidence because you can mentally map it out in your mind, rather than walking blindly into the course and not knowing where to push it,” Soholt said. “It’s good to know key points in the course so you can run your best.”
The men beat out Vanguard University and No. 19 Oregon Tech to secure a third place finish. The team’s combined total was just 37 points behind The Master’s overall total.
Senior Danny Ledesma was the first to cross the finish line with a time of 25:37.9 to finish fourth overall. Junior Andrew Daedler finished ninth at 25:53.9. Junior Kevin Horchler had the next best time for Biola at 26:08 to finish 16th.
“Our goals for the meet were to finish ahead of Westmont and Vanguard,” Ledesma said. “We also wanted to finish ahead of Oregon Tech, who are ranked higher than us in Nationals, and it was good to accomplish that.”
The men look forward to what is to come from the GSAC championship as well. The meet will determine whether or not the men will qualify for Nationals. For the men, having the advantage of already knowing the course could be exactly what they need to accomplish their goal and push their season further.
“It’s a big advantage to know the course ahead of time. It really helps to know what we need to work on,” Ledesma said. “Especially racing Vanguard, … it wasn’t a perfect race, but we were able to see how we can make the conference finals near to perfection.”
The men and women will compete in the GSAC Championship meet at 9 a.m. on Nov. 9 in Costa Mesa.
