The men and women’s cross country teams competed in the Vanguard Invitational on Oct. 11. The women placed second overall and the men came in ninth. This marks the first meet the women did not take a first place finish this season.

Westmont College came in first place overall and finished one minute over Biola. The Eagles look to use the meet to work out last minute issues before the conference championship meet in three weeks.

“We wanted to go out and compete and do our best,” said senior Carrie Soholt. “Obviously it would have been great to come out on top but we didn’t and that’s okay. We are just going to use it motivate us for the next race.”  

Soholt finished first for the Eagles with a time of 18:12.71 to place eighth overall. Junior Anika Gasner finished three seconds behind Soholt to come in tenth place with a time of 18:15.61.

Senior Kevin Horchler ended up being the only male competitor for Biola to place in the top ten. Horchler earned ninth place with his time of 25:41.27. Junior Hunter Johnson followed close behind Horchler with a time of 27:23.01.

Next up for Biola is the NAIA West Coast Jamboree on Oct. 25 before the Golden State Athletic Conference championships. The West Coast Jamboree will have most of the teams that will compete in the conference championship meet.

“We want to compete and give it our best,” said Soholt. “Obviously it would be nice to come out on top but ultimately our goal is GSAC and getting to Nationals. We’re going to go for it and see what comes of it.”