LOS ANGELES—Biola University's distance runners debuted in the steeplechase, ran early outdoor season PR's, secured national outdoor qualifying spots as well as raced for a total of 100,000 kilometers at the Occidental College Distance Carnival on Friday night in Los Angeles.

Kyle McNulty, Carter Williams, and Erika Perez all debuted in the 3000m steeplechase with McNulty securing a trip the NAIA Outdoor Championships with his 9:39.06, just under the provisional time of 9:40.

"For his first steeplechase race Kyle did extremely well," said Head Coach Jonathan Zimmerman. "His training as been very solid throughout the winter months and you can really see that he is now competing at an entirely new level."

Jared Bird and Kristin Schmidt led the way for a total of seven Biola athletes who completed the 25 lap 10,000 m finale. Bird took more than a minute off his PR with a 33:59.64 while Schmidt ran a PR of 36:51.73. Schmidt's time was well under the NAIA Outdoor automatic qualifying mark of 38:45.35 in an event in which she was an All-American in last year.

Both Bird and teammate Danielle Simpson, who ran a 39:50, also earned qulaifying marks in the marathon. Freshmen Kim Arroues (39:57), Danielle Calhoun (40:10), and Sarah Brooks (40:43), along with fourth-year Danielle Gomes (41:05.91) ran well in their first 10,000m track race ever.

Sophomore Mike Morin also earned a PR in the 5k with a time of 16:54.87, cutting over 20 seconds off his previous best time.

Freshmen Erika Perez and Carter Williams took part in their first steeplechase races ever with Perez finished in 12:20.78 and Williams ran a 10:17.27.

Biola's next track meet will be the Collegiate Classic hosted by UC Irvine on Friday and Saturday, March 21 & 22, where they will be competing against UCI, Cornell, Yale, George Fox, and Occidental. 


Results from the Occidental Distance Carnival can be found at http://www.oxyathletics.com/sports/tf/2007-08/results/08DistanceCarnivalResults.htm