SAN DIEGO, Calif. --- Biola chose to go a few hours south to Point Loma rather than make the trek up north to Westmont for their invitational on Saturday, and it worked out well as the Eagles got some quick runs and solid throws at the Point Loma Collegiate Invitational.
 
"We had great team synergy and excitement today," said Head Coach Jonathan Zimmerman. "It is such a blessing to work with these scholar-athletes."
 
Kevin Horchler stood out among those student-athletes as he became the first male to hit a national qualifying standard for the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
 
Horchler placed second (9:20.22) in the 3,000m steeplechase in order to hit the "B" qualifying standard in the event. His mark on Saturday was 38 seconds faster than the time he actually put up in the steeplechase at the NAIA national meet last season.
 
He was matched on the women's side, as Lyndee Dawson won the 3,000m steeplechase and hit the "A" standard to punch her ticket to Alabama.
 
Taylor McCahon was the only other student-athlete to secure a spot at the national meet. She went .11m higher than anyone else in the field to win the pole vault at 3.60m. She became the first Eagle this season to hit the "A" standard in the pole vault. Nicole Falkenstein is also qualified, at the "B" level, but will likely hit the "A" standard soon.
 
This was the Eagles' second outdoor event of the season, and they still have five more chances to get some student-athletes on their national team.
 
Biola took a large contingent to San Diego on Saturday, and they got some solid finishes out of a lot of student-athletes in a tough field that included other Golden State Athletic Conference schools Vanguard and Concordia.
 
Whitney Fredenburg impressed in the shot put and the discus throw. She earned top 10 finishes in both events, coming in fourth in the shot put (11.08m) and seventh in the discus (33.34m).
 
Fredenburg was joined by Megan Crumley, who had an equally impressive performance with eighth- and fourth-place finishes in those events. She also participated in the javelin throw and finished 10^th.
 
Elyse Harabedian (HJ, LJ, TJ) and Kate Smiley (100m, 200m, 100H) joined with Crumley as the only three Biola women to finish with three top 10 finishes.
 
The Eagles women ran their way through the 1,500m, with Anika Gasner getting the win with a 4:49.02. Brooke Arvidson claimed second place with a finish just .33 seconds behind Gasner. Chelsea Janzen took fifth.
 
Danny Ledesma made a splash on the men's side with his first-place finish in the 1,500m. He ran a 4:02.11 to place just .41 seconds in front of back-to-back-to-back finishers from California Baptist.
 
Alex Calkins and Jeff Tran also had top-2 finishes on the men's side. The both hit 4.40m in the pole vault to tie in second place.
 
Biola had a very successful day overall with 34 top 10 finishes in individual events. The team will have a chance to improve upon placement and grab some more national qualifying times on Friday at the Coast Classic hosted by Orange Coast College.