BREA, Calif. - Senior Brittany Gomes placed fifth overall in her first race since 2004 in the women's race to lead Biola's cross country team at its season opening race Saturday morning.

 

The Eagle women placed 11th overall among 21 teams at the Cal State Fullerton Invitational at Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Brea. The unranked Biola team scored 271 points to finish ahead of No. 11 Vanguard, which took 14th overall.

No. 5 Concordia took top honors at the meet with 88 points while No. 20 Azusa pacific finished in eighth place with 231 points.

Gomes, who missed the 2005 season due to an injury, ran a strong time of 18:32 to take fifth overall out of over 200 runners in the women's field. Anna Thibodo placed 44th overall with a time of 19:41. She was followed by Amanda Stephens, who finished 64th in 20:10.

Rounding out the women's contingent were Danielle Simpson in 20:46 (90th), Sara Bair in 21:26 (133rd), Kristin Schmidt in 21:59 (160th) and Hillary Tayer in 22:05 (163rd).

The Biola men sent four individuals to the Fullerton Invitational with sophomore Jared Bird earning top honors for the Eagles. Bird, who took a nasty spill in the first 120 meters of the race, moved past half the field to finish in the middle of the pack in 125th place with a time of 29:13. Ronnie Toth finished just behind Bird in 29:38 (135th).

Freshman Kyle McNulty and Mike Morin, who were running in their first collegiate races, finished in 29:45 (141st) and 31:00 (172nd), respectively. The men's race saw over 210 contestants run the 8K field.

The Biola men's team will run a full squad at UC Irvine Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 9). The Eagle women will take a week off before returning to action at the San Diego State Aztec Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 16.

 

COMPLETE RESULTS - MEN / WOMEN