Biola’s golf teams started the Embry-Riddle University Spring Invitational in Prescott, Ariz. with one of its best days in program history. Both the men’s and women’s squads finished day one in the top-five of their respective leaderboards. The men shot a 288 and ended up in fourth place, just 10 shots behind leader Arizona Christian University. The women shot a 314 for a third-place standing well behind host Embry-Riddle, which currently leads the invitational by five shots.

The highlight of the day for the men was their team score, which set a new program record. The on-par mark of 288 broke the previous low score of 291 from the team’s performance at the 2011 Cal State Intercollegiate Invitational.

Sophomore Austin Bishop had the best individual score with a 71 on the day. He became the only Eagle to shoot under par, but fellow sophomore Kyle McAbee and freshman Kaden Page added 72s while junior Samuel Shih recorded a 73 to round out the exceptional team effort. Bishop—and, by extension, the Eagles—were heading for an even better result before he triple-bogeyed the final hole, which raised him from four under par to one under par.

Freshman Tori Roeske once again led the women. Her score of 73 ranked among the best of her young collegiate career and became the lowest of her team. Roeske finished in fourth place of the individual leaderboard, but sits only two strokes behind the leaders. Freshman Jenny Zhang also contributed and freshman Alexis Gopfert scored for the Eagles for the first time, with both women shooting 79s. They are tied for 17th overall heading into day two.

The Eagles will compete for one more day at the ERAU Spring Invitational on March 14 before returning home just in time for Missions Conference.