FRESNO, Calif. --- Biola's men's and women's cross country teams had solid showings, both placing second in their respective races with six earning All-GSAC honors at the 2011 GSAC Cross Country Championship race on Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.
The men's team came into the race seeded third and ranked No. 21 in the latest NAIA National Rankings. However, the Eagles put together an impressive race to finish second overall with 67 points--just nine points back of No. 3 The Master's College and six points ahead of No. 14 Westmont College. Biola's team time of 2:08:08 was the fastest in program history.
The finish may have been enough to move Biola into a position for the men's team to qualify for the NAIA National Championship race for the first time in program history. The qualifying teams and individuals will be announced on Monday, Nov. 7, for the championship race on Saturday, Nov. 19 in Vancouver, Wash.
Three Eagle men earned All-GSAC honors by finishing in the top 14 overall. Junior Collin Christensen was Biola's top finisher, placing sixth overall with a time of 25:03 on the 8K course. Senior Brian Aukshunas was close behind in ninth, finishing in 25:30. Sophomore Danny Ledesma placed 12 overall in 25:36 to also earn all-conference recognition.
Rounding out the Biola contingent was freshman Andrew Daedler in 16th in 25:45, junior Spencer Lyle in 25th with a time of 26:14, freshman Kevin Horchler in 27th place in 26:25 and junior Joseph Harabedian in 41st in 27:11.
On the women's side, Biola secured second place in the meet with a team score of 64 points, finishing comfortably ahead of third-place Westmont, which had 87 points. Azusa Pacific won the event with 20 points.
Senior Nychele Fischetti placed fourth overall for the Eagles, earning All-GSAC honors with a time of 17:59 in the 5K race. Fellow senior Carissa Bowman also earned all-conference recognition with a 10th-place finish in 18:13, followed closely by freshman Jessica Marquardt, who placed 11th in 18:20.
Junior Rachel Stump took home 17th place in the reach with a time of 18:41 while senior Jane Kerner crossed in 19:00 to place 22nd. Sophomore Chelsea Janzen took home 29th place in 19:27 and freshman Carrie Soholt placed 33rd in 19:34 to round out the Eagles' racing seven.
The Eagles are likely to earn an at-large berth to the NAIA National Championships, which would be its fifth-straight trip to the national race. The NAIA National Championships on Saturday, Nov. 19 at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington. Official selections will be announced on Monday, Nov. 7 by 5:00 p.m. (CT).
