LAWRENCE, Kansas --- The 2014 Biola Cross Country season came to a close on Saturday with a gutsy team performance at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships at Rim Rock Farm in Kansas.
 
The Eagles' women's contingent ran all seven of its runners within one minute and 54 seconds of each other to finish 21^st in the 38-team field featuring 336 runners. Kevin Horchler competed as an individual on the men's side and ran a 27:06 to finish 181^st of 320 male runners.
 
British Columbia took the first place team spot on the women's side for the third year in a row, while Oklahoma City dominated the competition to take the men's crown.
 
The Eagles' 21^st-place finish on the women's side matches its national ranking in the latest NAIA Top-25 Coaches' Poll, meaning the team put forth the exact effort raters expected to see from them.
 
"We were really solid today," said Head Coach Jonathan Zimmerman. "I am very pleased with our team effort and representation."
 
Returning All-Americans Kellian Hunt and Carrie Soholt led the charge for Biola as it ran in two very tight groups. None of the Eagles' runners earned All-American honors this season, with Hunt finishing 61^st (19:05), followed by Soholt in 103^rd (19:25) and Anika Gasner in 126^th (19:35).
 
Those three were the front group for Biola, finishing as the Eagles' representation under 20 minutes and inside the top-200.

The Eagles' final four were separated by just 48 seconds, with sophomore Sarah Pfaff (20:11) and junior Ilima Kung (20:18) rounding out Biola's top-five. Brooke Arvidson (20:54) and freshman Stephanie Croy (20:59) rounded out the women's runners.
 
Kung also earned Biola's Champion of Character recognition at the National Championship Awards Ceremony. She is a human biology major winning the award for the first time in her Biola career.
 
Maria Bernard (17:03) of British Columbia won the individual championship in the women's race, outpacing the second-place finisher by 30-plus seconds. Bernard Keter (24:36), a repeat winner of the NAIA National Runner of the Week honor throughout the season, of Wayland Baptist won the men's race.
 
The Eagles cross country season is now done, but that does not mean a break for most of these student-athletes who transition straight into Biola's upcoming indoor track & field season.