Biola cross country enjoyed Fresno just fine for the Golden State Athletic Conference championship race, but all eyes will be on Vancouver, Wash. as the women qualified for NAIA championships and is placing six runners in the top twenty.
The men’s team closed out their season with a solid effort at GSAC. Junior Carter Williams led the Eagles, finishing in 27:04, 31st in the field. In fact, the men had their top four within 29 seconds of each other, showing excellent grouping and a respectable team performance. Freshman Spencer Lyle finished in 27:22 and looks poised to come in next season more experienced and greatly improved. The team finished ninth with a team time of 2:18:23. Kyle McNulty, Mike Morin, Ryan Richert, and Kyle Ross are all seniors, so this was their last season with the team. While they will be missed, the group leaves behind five capable men to take the lead and welcome next year’s new guys into the family.
As for the women, six finished within 48 seconds of each other, all of them in the top 20 overall. Sophomore Nychele Fischetti led the way, finishing in 18:01, good enough for 5th in the field of 91. Coming in at 18:08 and 18:10, juniors Sarah Brooks and Katie Thede finished 6th and 7th respectively.
“The race was an amazing experience”, Brooks said, “Getting the chance to represent Biola and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Juniors Kelsey Gasner and Danielle Calhoun rounded out the Eagles’ scoring with personal course records of 18:21 and 18:48, finishing 12th and 18th in the field. Just one second later, sophomore Carissa Bowman crossed the line at 18:49, and junior Erika Perez finished seconds later at 19:06.
“It was a fast race, but our team held together strong.” Brooks later said, “It was a privilege to run as a team and to go after something bigger than ourselves.”
The top seven Eagles finished within 65 seconds of each other. That same top seven will be competing in Washington: sophomores Fischetti and Bowman, along with juniors Brooks, Thede, Gasner, Calhoun, and Perez.
“Six of our top seven set course personal records,” Coach Zimmerman commented. “So GSAC was a great team effort.”
With a time of 1:31:28, the Eagles finished 2nd out of 9 teams, just seconds behind defending national champion and 2009 GSAC champ, Azusa Pacific.
On a team of thirteen runners, the women have no seniors, meaning they should be every bit as good next season, but this is no time to look that far ahead. The Eagle women have one more race to run. Saturday, November 21 at 11:45 a.m., the national champion will be decided.
“We can’t take anything for granted, “ APU head coach Preston Grey said. “Any of the top teams can win it all if we don’t show up ready to go.”
Biola comes in as the No. 4 team in the NAIA and has the talent to contend for the title.
