In order to give several of his athletes a much-needed break, the group that coach Sean Henning brought to the Occidental Distance Carnival served him well.

“The meet at Occidental was a fun, all-around good environment at a super nice college,” said sophomore Christian Yaotani. “Some athletes came back unhappy with their performance. Others qualified for the outdoor nationals. The meet ran pretty smoothly all around.”

The women’s athletes brought Biola at least five top-three performances, including three first-place victories. Freshman Paige LaBare won her first collegiate 100m race by finishing in 12:35. Likewise, junior Ambernicole Hollinger took first place in the shot put with her 12.22m throw. Finally, sophomore Mandy Reyes won the women’s 3,000m steeplechase.

In a day chock-full of races, freshman Ashley Otah finished third in the triple jump and high jump and placed sixth in the 100m hurdles. Despite using a new pole, freshman Sarah Prustupa managed to place second in the women’s vault competition.

Freshman Nathaniel Belden finished eighth in the triple jump as he reached a personal best of 13.25m. Sophomore Christian Yaotani also took eighth place in the long jump and sophomore Ryan Thompson finished the 5,000m in 14:54.

“It’s always good practice,” Yaotani said. “This meet was everyone’s first outdoor meet, so it was a confidence builder for most of the team. It was good competition and a good place to get things rolling to prepare for GSAC and Nationals.”

With most of their athletics well-rested, the Eagles’ next meet is on March 18 at the Ross and Sharon Irwin Collegiate Scoring Meet hosted at Point Loma Nazarene University.