COSTA MESA, Calif. --- For the second time this season Biola's No. 4 women's cross country squad won a competitive meet outright. The Eagles scored a 36 to run away with first place in the Vanguard Invitational 5K.
 
The men's squad ran well and finished fifth in a meet featuring 14 teams and five conference foes. The Eagles fifth place finish was the second highest of any Golden State Athletic Conference school with only The Master's College placing ahead of them.
 
"They did good, and they had to do good," said Head Coach Jonathan Zimmerman. "They came out and ran just as they had been running in practice. They have been really dialed in training for this."
 
The training paid off for both sides as eight Biola runners placed in the top 15 of their respective races.
 
The women's contingent's top five finishers all placed within 40 seconds of each other and the top seven were separated by just 1:03.
 
Carrie Soholt led the flock of Eagles by placing fourth overall with a time of 18 minutes and 25.94 seconds. She was followed by Chelsea Janzen (17:55.11), Lyndee Dawson (17:56.16) and Kellian Hunt (18:02.18).
 
This is Soholt's first time leading the pack this season as she dropped 52 seconds from her time at the San Diego State Aztec Invitational.
 
"They are performing well as a team, they are doing what they are supposed to be doing," said Zimmerman. "We are getting to the academic crunch time of the year and they are doing a good job of balancing that."
 
The women's squad took first in a meet that included 17 other programs and five conference competitors. The closest in-conference team to finish behind Biola was No. 7 The Master's College who finished tied for second.
Kevin Horchler (25:21.32) and Danny Ledesma(25:27.08) finished back-to-back at third and fourth to pace the Eagles. Andrew Daedler came in just behind them as the third Eagle to finish in the top 15. That trio of Eagles has finished as their top three in each of their last two races.
 BU's fifth place finish will propel them towards some national attention as they finished ahead of No. 22 Vanguard and just one second off the pace of NAIA No. 17 TMC.
 
"Everyone did well today," said Zimmerman. "Both teams rose to the occasion and we got a look at the same course the conference meet is held at. It was good to see it and allow the runners to get used to it.
 
Both teams will have two weeks off to train and hit the books before they next compete at Biola's NAIA West Coast Jamboree Oct. 26. This is the Eagles' lone home meet of the season and is held at Irvine Regional Park. More information regarding the meet can be found here.