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Men's Cross Country

Hunt Wins National Championship, Teams Place 3rd, 25th

Kellian Hunt won Biola's second individual cross country national championship on Saturday morning.

Lyndee Dawson, Kevin Horchler, Kellian Hunt and Anika Gasner all earned All-American honors.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- History was made on this sunny Saturday morning in Charlotte as Kellian Hunt won the second individual national championship in Biola Cross Country history at the 2015 NAIA Cross Country Championships at McAlpine Park.
 
The senior from Whittier put a memorable cap on an eventful four-year cross country career for the Eagles by running a 17:16 to finish ahead of everyone in a field of 321. It's the third time in her career that she's finished in All-American territory, and it is of course her highest career finish.
 
Hunt paced a women's team that got itself back onto the podium after a year off of it. The Eagles finished third overall behind the new champions, Northwest Christian, and the champions of the previous three seasons, British Columbia.

"I thought Kellian had a fantastic day and showed a lot of patience and poise throughout the race," said Head Coach Sean Henning. "She picked her moment perfectly and really closed well to win pretty comfortably."
 
The men's side finished 25th overall and was led by a tremendous individual effort that earned Kevin Horchler his first career cross country All-American honors with a seventh-place finish. Horchler came back this fall just to have one more season with this men's cross country team and it turned out pretty well with NAIA All-American honors and a conference championship. He completed today's 8k course in 24:44.

"Kevin executed his race plan to perfection, putting himself in the top 20 from the gun and slowly moving up as people dropped off," said Henning. "We knew he was capable of being in the top 10 based off of his fitness. All that he had to do was make sure he ran smart and was patient throughout the race. I couldn't be prouder of him for the way performed and his leadership on this team."
 
The women's podium finish was powered by its top-3 runners as the Eagles had Hunt and two others earn All-American status in this year's race. Anika Gasner placed 12th (17:53) and Lyndee Dawson finished 16th to help Biola to its third-best 170 team points. It is Dawson and Gasner's first cross country All-American honors.

"Anika and Lyndee both had really good days and did a great job of giving us the points in the top 20 that we needed," said Henning. "The rest of the girls ran hard and put forth a great effort, but unfortunately we weren't able to get them all on the same page working together early on. I think that made it difficult for them throughout the race because they were running by themselves when they are used to running with teammates. We didn't have enough girls up at the front of the race to put together a complete race, but we are still very happy with the results and being the third-best team in the country today."
 
Rounding out the women's top-5 scorers is Michelle Clark (59th – 18:51) and Kaili Waller (86th – 19:04). All of the Eagles' seven finished near the top-third of the field as Stephanie Croy (102nd – 19:16) and Ilima Kung (111th – 19:22) rounded out the team.
 
Biola's 170 points put them 72 points behind the national champions, Northwest Christian.
 
The men's side finished inside of the top-25 with 610 total team points. Finishing behind Horchler to round out Biola's scoring five was Wes Noyes (128th – 26:41), Timmy Wilson (144th – 26:54), Shane Brinson (163rd – 27:03) and Ryan Thompson (169th – 27:06).
 
The men's title was captured by Oklahoma City for the third consecutive season.
 
" I am very happy that in just a few months, we were able to take them women from 21st to 3rd in the nation, and the men from sixth in the conference to a spot on the starting line at a national championship. God is definitely blessing us and providing us with great opportunities to honor him with our running," said Henning.

The 2015 cross country season comes to a close today as many of the student-athletes transition to their roles on Biola's Track & Field team which will begin competition later this winter.
 
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Players Mentioned

Kevin Horchler

#2 Kevin Horchler

5' 11"
Senior
M
Timmy Wilson

#2 Timmy Wilson

5' 10"
Sophomore
M
Ryan Thompson

#2 Ryan Thompson

5' 9"
Freshman
M
Shane Brinson

#2 Shane Brinson

5' 8"
Senior
M

Players Mentioned

Kevin Horchler

#2 Kevin Horchler

5' 11"
Senior
M
Timmy Wilson

#2 Timmy Wilson

5' 10"
Sophomore
M
Ryan Thompson

#2 Ryan Thompson

5' 9"
Freshman
M
Shane Brinson

#2 Shane Brinson

5' 8"
Senior
M
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