GENEVA, Ohio --- Biola got the 2012 NAIA Indoor Championships off to a strong start as the women's 4x800 relay team set a new school record and ran the fastest qualifying time in the event as many preliminary races were run on Thursday at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva.

The Eagle women dropped four seconds off its previous best time which also was set at last year's championships. The 4x800 team of Brooke Forsi, Alexandra Sciarra, Nychele Fischetti and Jane Kerner, ran the fastest preliminary time in the event by nearly two full seconds. The finals of the event take place on Friday afternoon.

The Biola distance medley relay team also qualified for the finals, finishing third in its qualifying heat and seventh overall with a time of 12:07.29. The DMR team was made up of Jane Kerner, Brooke Forsi, Alexandra Sciarra and Nychele Fischetti.

Biola sent a program-best 17 athletes to the indoor championships this year. The bulk of the events taking place on Friday and Saturday are finals of respective events with action beginning Friday morning. Complete results and real-time information on the championships can be found at http://www.lightningtiming.com/.