ORANGE, Calif. --- Biola closed out its regular season with a solid showing on Saturday at the 2011 Biola University Cross Country Invitational with the women taking top honors and the men placing third overall in Irvine Regional Park in Orange.

The Biola women scored 43 points to edge a pair of GSAC teams in the 5K race, beating out Westmont College which had 47 points and The Master's College, which scored 49 points overall. The Mustangs had the top finisher in the race as Holly Kopp crossed the line in 18:05.8. Westmont's Kate Stuart placed second in 18:16.6 and Point Loma Nazarene's Breelan Mantranga took third in 18:29.4.

In the men's 8K race, The Master's College narrowly edged out Westmont College 43-46 to win the race. Biola wasn't too far behind, placing third with 56 points. All of the top three teams placed their five scoring runners in the top 20 with The Master's sweeping the top two spots. John Gilbertson finished in 24:24.1 with teammate Anthony Pizzo taking second in 24:34.1. 

Biola's women ran an impressive overall race, bunched up near the top of the standings. Carissa Bowman was the Eagles' top finisher in fifth place, crossing in 18:35.3 and was one of four Biola runners in the top nine. Nychele Fischetti finished fifth in 18:40.8 followed by Jessica Marquardt in eighth with a time of 18:52.1 and a ninth-place finish by Rachel Stump in 18:59.3. Jane Kerner rounded out the scoring five for the Eagles with a time of 19:30.0, good enough for 15th place overall.

The Biola men were led by Collin Christensen's fifth place finish and time of 25:22.7. The Eagles then stacked 11th-13th place wth Andrew Daedler (25:50.4), Danny Ledesma (25:54.5) and Brian Aukshunas (25:54.9) crossing close together. Kyle Spencer narrowly edged out a runner from The Master's to finish 20th with a time of 26:19.4.

The Eagles take a bit of a break before heading north to Fresno for the 2011 Golden State Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships at Woodward Park on Saturday, November 5, beginning at 9:00 a.m.