The dew from early morning was still settling over UC Irvine when the Biola women’s race team toed the line in anticipation. No sooner had the race begun before Biola jumped out to a lead in the first 100 meters, made the turn, and were off.
The women’s team was running in the race at UC Irvine for the second consecutive year.
“We just wanted to go out and run faster than last year,” Coach Zimmerman said.
They certainly did just that. The “team time” is the total times of each team’s top five runners added together. Last year, Biola’s women ran 1:34:52 as a team. This year they came in at 1:33:13 with all five women improving on their times from a year ago. Leading the Eagles was sophomore Nychele Fischetti, who dropped 69 seconds off of her time last year to finish at 18:08, 14th in a field of 149.
“It was a good pace for me,” she said after the race. “I just followed my race plan.”
When asked about the remarkable improvement over last year, she added, “Last year this was my first collegiate race, so I expected to be better.”
Freshman Rachel Stump was one of the new girls this time. I When asked about having her first college race behind her, she enthused “I finished! Now that’s behind me and I can move forward.” Stump ran the three miles in 20:13, and she finished 107th.
The juniors were asked about how they felt being the elder statesmen now.
“It’s definitely more pressure,” Sarah Brooks said. “I have bigger expectations for each race.”
“It’s good to get the first race out of the way,” Kelsey Gasner also mentioned. “We have a few more before conference to get mentally ready.”
Brooks finished 31st and Gasner finished 53rd in the field.
The Biola women are ranked 3rd in the NAIA, a fact Coach Zimmerman adressed during his meeting with the girls.
“We can’t control the rankings,” he said.“We just have to keep giving them numbers they can’t ignore.”
As a whole, the Biola women finished 4th out of 13 teams, ahead of big-name schools including USC, Pepperdine, Fresno State, and host UC Irvine.
While the women’s race was overcast for its entire duration, the sun came out for the men, and came with a vengeance. The men ran five miles, instead of the three run by the women.
“This was a D-1 race and we had to be careful not to start too fast but run our pace and be smart as a team,” Senior Mike Morin said after the race.
Shortly after mile one, the clouds parted, and the temperature shot up. Senior Ryan Richert led the Biola men, finishing 51st out of 214 with a time of 26:30. Freshmen Billy Vetter now has one 5-mile race under his belt.
“It was a learning experience,” Vetter said, “I had to work on my pacing over the five miles. I’m relieved now that the first race is over and I feel much more confident going into the next one.”
Vetter finished in 29:50 and placed 185th. Biola men as a team ran 2:23:00 last year. This year, they were an astounding 5 minutes, 2 seconds faster at 2:17:58, an impressive improvement over a year. The men finished 13th out of 21 teams.
Coach Zimmerman was pleased with his team’s performance, and he wasn’t the only one taking notice.
USC coach Walsh said, “It’s impressive how Coach Zimmerman has built depth in that program. That will really help them in conference.” He went on to say. “This race also was good for getting underclassman experience in a division 1 atmosphere. Everyone wins.”
Cal State Northridge coach Strametz said, “The women’s race started off really fast, but it was a good way to open the season. The Biola team was well grouped and it was an important experience for the younger runners.”
When asked about NAIA and NCAA programs competing together, he answered, “In our sport, that ís how it should be. Once you pick a school, only the times should matter.”
It is obvious what the team has focused on so far this season. Fischetti emphasized that “running is not our identity, it is a gift from God, not who we are.” Senior Kyle McNulty also said, “Our identity is not in how we race.” Morin added, “We know where our strength comes from, and we try to live that.”
There is no question about it, Biola Cross Country runs for Jesus and they aren’t afraid to tell you about it.
Monday the Eagles will begin preparation for their next meet, Saturday the 19th at UC Riverside.
