ORANGE, Calif. --- Biola's men's cross country team had a huge breakthrough performance with a third-place finish in a tough field while the women's squad placed second overall at the Biola University Cross Country Invitational on Saturday at Irvine Regional Park.

Both the men's and women's races team honors went to the squads from Cal State San Marcos. The Cougar women's team, ranked No. 2 in the latest NAIA National Rankings, finished with a low score of 29 to edge out No. 1 Biola which had 46. The men's team, ranked No. 6 overall, scored 45 points to hold No. 19 The Master's College.

Individual honors went to Simon Fraser's Jessica Smith in the women's race with a time of 17:39.0, a full 10 seconds faster than the rest of the field. The top three finishers on the men's side were from The Master's College with John Gilbertson narrowly edging teammate Jeff Jackson for first place in 24:54.2.

For Biola, the men's team turned a lot of heads, finishing among a group of nationally-ranked teams after failing to receive votes in the previous national poll. Biola scored 92 points and finished ahead of Westmont--which had received votes in the poll--and No. 22 Simon Fraser 

Senior Ryan Richert led a trio of Biola seniors with course personal best times, placing sixth overall in a time of 25:22. The other seniors were Carter Williams finished 29th in 26:34 and Evan Thibodeau placed 41st in 27:16.

The young guys also keyed Biola's strong finish as sophomore Spencer Lyle placed 16th and also set a course PR with a time of 26:10. Freshman Danny Ledesma placed 18th overall in 26:!6 and junior Brian Aukshunas placed 25th in 26:25. Rounding out the Biola contingent were freshmen Scott Weird (69th - 28:27) and Kyle Norman (73rd - 28:45).

"Our men really have done a tremendous job all season," said Head Coach Jonathan Zimmerman. "They have great team synergy and it's exciting to see their hard work and diligence paying off."

On the women's side, the top-ranked Eagles ran a superb race finishing just behind No. 2 Cal State San Marcos and ahead of No. 4 Simon Fraser and No. 6 Point Loma Nazarene.

Senior Kelsey Gasner continued her string of top 10 finishes this year with a second place finish overall, crossing in 17:49. Freshman Alexandra Sciarra came in with a time of 18:14, good enough for 10th place, and was followed by senior Katie Thede, who took 12th in 18:15. Rounding out the scorers were senior Sarah Brooks in 14th place with a time of 18:17 and junior Nychele Fischetti in 16th place at 18:30. 

Other Eagles who placed were Carissa Bowman (22nd - 18:39), Chelsea Janzen (23rd - 18:39), Danielle Calhoun (33rd - 19:05), Rebecca Asplund (37th - 19:11), Fevan McNichols (48th - 19:36), Jane Kerner (51st - 19:46), Kasey Schliach (60th - 20:10) and Clarissa Kenney (73rd - 20:39).

"Our women's team did a great job today and ran well with some of the finest programs in the NAIA," said Zimmerman. "Our low-key' meet sure has become a gathering place of the best teams across the country." 

The final push toward the NAIA Championships begins in two weeks with a trip to Fresno for the 2010 GSAC Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 6 at Woodward Park.