COMPLETE RESULTS
FRESNO, Calif. --- Brian Ball finished as the GSAC Champion in the steeplechase and placed second in the 5,000 meters to lead Biola University at the GSAC Track and Field Championships at Fresno Pacific on Friday and Saturday.
Ball, who had never run the steeplechase coming into the season, took top honors by running the 3,000m steeple event in 9:20.12. His time was 10 seconds off his best time of the season, which is the third fastest time in the NAIAs this year.
Ball also finished second in the 5,000, crossing the line in 15:06.60. He was just five second behind the winner, Marco Venancio of Concordia and is just under a minute behind the best in the NAIA.
Overall, Biola placed seventh on both the men's and the women's side, with the men scoring 34 points and the women recording 24. Point Loma Nazarene took top honors on the women's side with 255 points while Azusa Pacific won the men's title with 255 points as well.
Other top finishers on the men's side include Timothy Ellis, who took third place in the pole vault by clearing a height of 13 feet, 11 inches.
Jared Bird was among the placewinners in the 10,000 meters, finishing sixth in 35:57.22.
David Caple had a good showing as well, taking sixth in the high jump with a leap of five-feet, eight-3/4 inches. He also placed seventh in the 200 meters in 23.40 and ninth in the 100m at 11.54.
On the women's side, it was the Kristin Schmidt show. The junior, who has had a very impressive year durign the cross country and indoor track seasons, took third in the 5,000 (18:27.54), sixth in the 1,500 (4:48.46) and eighth in the 10,000 (43:17.86).
Also placing high on the women's side was Amanda Stephens, who took second in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 12:07.15. She finished just 10 seconds behind the event winner, Whitney Jacobmeyer of Azusa Pacific.
The Eagles will run in a couple of last-chance qualifier competitions before the qualifiers return to Fresno for the NAIA National Championships on May 24-26.
