REDLANDS, Calif. --- Biola's women's cross country team swept the top six placed and had nine of the top 10 finishers to take first place while the men had a solid race and finished second as the teams opened the season at the University of Redlands Invitation on Saturday.

Senior Nychelle Fischetti led the way for the Biola women with a first-place finish, crossing in 17:03.17. Alexandra Sciarra placed second just four seconds behind and Jessica Marquardt finished third in 17:20.23. Rounding out the top six were Rachel Stump (17:34.83), Carrie Soholt (17:43.38) and Chelsea Janzen (17:44.28). 

The Eagles scored 15 points to take top honors in the race with Redlands placing second with 62. 

On the men's side, Biola had a bunched finish with its top five finishing within 26 seconds of each other. Collin Christensen led the way for the Eagles with a second-place finisher--the top collegiate finisher in the race. He ran a 19:37.49.

Andrew Daedler was Biola's second-highest finisher, placing seventh overall in 19:50.41, followed by Danny Ledesma in 10th in a time of 19:54.57. Rounding out the top five for the Eagles were Kevin Horchler in 11th (20:00.65) and Brian Aukshunas in 13th (20:03.15).

"Our summer practices really paid off for both teams," said Biola Head Coach Jonathan Zimmerman. "On the men's side, we saw many runners with good improvements over last year's meet and we had two freshman (Daedler and Horchler) in the top five.

"The women had a good focused and controlled effort with good communication and team mentality by everyone. It's nice to get a good start to the season and get a race under our belts. It's fun to lace up the racing flats and put on the Biola jerseys again after summer miles."