LA JOLLA, Calif. --- For the first time in nearly a month Head Coach Sean Henning had all of his top runners competing as Biola Cross Country ran at the 2015 UC San Diego Triton Classic on Saturday morning.
 
The No. 4 women's side lived up to its high national ranking by finishing second overall in the field of 13 teams. The Eagles ended just three team points behind the meet champions CSU San Bernardino with 67 total points.
 
All of Biola's top-7 finished inside of the top-33 in the field of 136 women. Kellian Hunt led the way with yet another third-place individual finish. She ran a 22:02 to finish behind just one runner from Azusa Pacific and one from Concordia.
 
Rounding out the Eagles' top-5 with great runs was Anika Gasner (8^th – 22:28), Lyndee Dawson (13^th – 22:54), Stephanie Croy (21^st – 23:21) and Kaili Waller (22^nd – 23:23).
 
Just like Biola CSU San Bernardino had three runners finish inside of the top-15, but it was their runner that finished 16^th overall that made the three-point difference to give the Coyotes the edge in the race.

"I thought our women fought hard today," said Head Coach Sean Henning. "It was a 6k, which most of them have never run, and it was a tough course with tough competition. They battled well and held their own against some really strong Division II teams." 
Ilima Kung (29^th – 23:34) and Emily Ransom (34^th – 23:46) finished out all of Biola's seven scoring times. Kaili Waller was the only one among Biola's top-7 that had already run in a 6k this season. She improved her time from the CSUSB Coyote Invitational by 41 seconds.

"We still have some work to do to get to where we want to be by the end of the season, but this was definitely a step in the right direction. As always, our ladies do a great job of Honoring Christ in their performances, no matter what the outcome," said Henning.
 
The men's contingent finished fifth in a 10-team field by posting a team time of 140:04. The Eagles accumulated 104 total points in finishing behind just UC San Diego, APU, Loyola Marymount and Cal Poly Pomona.
 
Kevin Horchler led the way for Biola with a ninth-place individual finish. He ran a 26:57 to finish 50 seconds behind the race winner from Azusa.

"I'm proud of our guys today," said Henning. "Our Nos. 2, 3 and 4 ran very hard today, and really had a solid day. We were off as a team, with a few guys having pretty bad races compared to what they've done earlier this year."
 
Rounding out the Eagles' top-5 was Timmy Wilson (24^th – 27:48), Shane Brinson (29^th – 28:03), Christian Perez (33^rd – 28:10) and Ryan Thompson (43^rd – 29:03).
 
The fifth-place finish was a nice rebound for this Biola team that suffered some hardship last time out in a 12^th-place finish at The Master's College Mustang Challenge in mid-September.

"We will regroup and get ready to go next week at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational. Despite challenging days like today, our team will always strive to honor Christ in our efforts."
 
Both teams have what will be one of the biggest meets of the season next weekend as they travel to Sunnyvale for the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational Oct. 17.