IRVINE, Calif. --- Personal bests, season bests and a pair of NAIA leading times were the highlight of the day Saturday as Biola joined numerous top teams from the NCAA Division I and II ranks at the 2010 UC Irvine Spring Break Classic in Irvine.

The field of competition included teams like Cornell, BYU, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, UC Riverside and UC Irvine. The top competition helped a number of Eagles to strong performances on the day.

Sophomore Nychele Fischetti lowered her 3,000 Steeplechase school record and notched the best time in the NAIA this season with a time of 11:10.55 which was well below the 11:33 national qualifying standard.

Junior Kelsey Gasner had a great break through race as she finished seventh in the 1500 with a NAIA national leading mark of 4:35.26. Gasner also hit the “B” qualifying standard with her open 800 race of 2:17.47.

Biola's Natasha Miller started her quest to the outdoor nationals with a time of 14.29 victory in the 100 meter hurdles, just two one-hundredths of a second off her lifetime best and a good first race of the season. Her time currently is tops on the NAIA performance list, well under the NAIA automatic qualifying time of 14.90. Miller also hit the provisional “B” standard in the 200 with a 25:26 which is just four one-hundredths of a second off her best.

Other Biola National Qualifiers included juniors Katie Thede and Sarah Brooks. Thede ran a personal best of 4:38.56 in the 1500, which places her third on current NAIA performance list. Brooks raced to an eight place PR finish of 18:02.24 in the 5,000, her time was just under the 18:05.5 automatic qualifying standard.

Senior Kyle McNulty took six seconds off his PR in the 3,000 steeplechase, easily went under the 9:40 provisional qualifying with his time of 9:33.66. Brian Aukshunas ran a seasonal-best 4:08.66, taking seven seconds off the mark he ran just one week earlier at the Oxy Distance Carnival.

Sophomore Jane Kerner improved 44 seconds in the 5,000m, racing to a time of 18:26.88, just missing the provisional qualifying time of 18:25 for the event.

Biola's full squad will compete at Westmont College next on Saturday, March 27th. This will be the first time the full squad has competed together in five weeks.

To date the track team has qualified 12 for the 2010 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University May 27-29 in Marion, Indiana.

Men's Qualifiers:
Kyle McNulty- Marathon & 3,000 Steeplechase
Ryan Richert- Marathon & 10,000
Ryan Hansen- Javelin
Carter Williams- Marathon
Spencer Lyle- Marathon
Evan Thibodeau- Marathon
Mike Morin- Marathon

Women's Qualifiers:
Kelsey Gasner- 1500 & 800
Katie Thede- 1500
Sarah Brooks- 5k
Natasha Miller- 100 Hurdles & 200
Nychele Fischetti- 3,000 Steeplechase