COMPLETE RESULTS: Men | Women
COSTA MESA, Calif. --- Biola's women's cross country team placed fourth out of 11 teams while the men's squad finished eighth on the challenging Fairview Park course at the Vanguard Invitational on Saturday.
The Eagles had a number of athletes under the weather, but still managed one of the best competitive team efforts of the season.
On the men's side, freshman Robbie Cracknell finished 28th overall with a time of 26:51. He was followed by freshman David Ricksecker in 33rd in 27:08. Rounding out the top five were junior Kyle McNulty (27:54 - 42nd), sophomore Rob Clarkson (28:05 - 50th) and junior Evan Thibodo (28:08 - 51st).
Biola's other racers were Mike Morin (28:42- 56th), Jared Bird (28:43- 57th), Ryan Houghton (30:11- 68th), and Matt Arroues (30:47- 72nd.)
“It was great to see Robbie and the rest of the men's squad getting a feel for the GSAC competition,” said Biola Head Coach Jonathan Zimmerman. “They showed a lot of courage today and really pushed themselves to the limit. Our 1-5 gap time of 77 seconds is a season best and I know this is a directly related to the TEAM culture that we have developed.”
The Biola women's team raced among some of the toughest teams in the NAIA as four of the top seven teams participated. Biola, which is currently ranked No. 7 in the NAIA performed well, though.
Leading the Eagles was junior Kristin Schmidt who finished eighth overall with a time of 18:07. Freshman Nychele Fischetti was close behind in 12th in 18:34 followed by sophomore Kelsey Gasner, who placed 20th in 18:56 and sophomore Katie Thede in 22nd at 18:57. Rounding out the top eight for the Eagles were sophomore Sarah Brooks (19:59 - 44th), sophomore Danielle Calhoun (20:07 - 47th), sophomore Erika Perez (20:18 - 51st), and Danielle Gomes (20:25 - 52nd).
Completing the scoring for the Eagles were Kim Arroues (20:33), Katie Sikkelee (21:11), and Clarissa Kenney (21:34).
“The focus of the meet today was to make sure we were doing all the little things well and following a process that will reap big dividends for us later on in the season.” said Zimmerman. “This was a solid effort today and we are fortunate to have a group of athletes who are committed to doing little things well as they more often than not become 'big things' when you get to the championship portion of the season.”
Biola returns to action on Saturday (Oct. 25), hosting the Biola Invitational at Irvine Regional Park in Orange. Biola Invite meet information can be found at: http://athletics.biola.edu//Sports/cross/2008/08BIOLAINVITE.asp
