The Biola cross country teams ran their last Division 1 invitational on Saturday in Riverside. The Biola women’s cross country team recorded a 5th place finish among a contingent of 34 teams, while the men’s team placed 14th out of 25 with both teams making great times due to the lack of muddy or rugged terrain which made for a fast paced course at the UC Riverside invitational on Saturday. This course will also be used for the Big West Conference championships in November.

On the men’s side, the top five runners set the pace with their best race of the year so far: freshman David Ricksecker, 26:22; junior Kyle McNulty, 26:33; freshman Robbie Cracknell, 26:57; Jared Bird, 27:45; Brian S., 27:56. The rest of the men’s team ran well, too. Evan Thibodeau, 28:07; Mike Morin, 28:09; Matt Arroues, 29:26; and Kyle Ross, 29:47 rounded out the men’s side.

The women entered the meet ranked No. 9 in the latest NAIA poll. Kristin Schmidt paced the Eagles with a speedy 17:40 time which was good enough for 14th place overall. The top five Biola runners with their finishing times are: freshman Nychele Fischetti 18:03; sophomore Katie Thede; 18:09; freshman Carissa Bowman 18:15; and sophomore Kelsey Gasner, 8:39. Rounding out the scoring for the Biola women were Sarah Brooks, 19:14; Danielle Calhoun, 19:45; Erika Perez, 19:48; Danielle Gomes, 20:12; Kim Arroues, 20:23; Katie Sikkelee, 20:33; and Clarissa Kenney, 21:04.

“Again, this team continues to push the edge of the envelope as being absolutely one of the finest collegiate programs in the NAIA,” said head coach Jonathan Zimmerman. “They are a very disciplined and focused group of student athletes and the results show it.”

The Eagles have a week off before their next meet at the Vanguard invitational on Saturday, Oct. 11, which is also Biola’s parent weekend.