IRVINE, Calif. --- Biola's Cross Country season got started with a bang on Saturday as the No. 18 women's squad took first place at the 2015 Adidas/UC Irvine Invitational. The men's side had a strong showing from its young team and placed fifth in the 13-team field.
 
"All-in-all, I think we did a great job of honoring God with our talents and striving to be a great example of Christ's love in how we carried ourselves today," said Head Coach Sean Henning.
 
The women's side put forth a very impressive performance to outperform the pack of 15 teams, and perhaps most notably best their rival No. 5 The Master's College. TMC placed fifth with 119 points, compared to the Eagles' winning score of 82 points. The field was a mix of NAIA, NCAA and club teams, but Biola was head and shoulders above the bunch.
 
Anika Gasner was the Eagles' top performer, coming in at third among the 159 individuals. She ran a 17:57 to open the year with a time that would be second among all her runs from a year ago.
 
Kellian Hunt was just behind her with an 18:10. Hunt finished fourth, and the time bests all of her showings from the 2014 season.
 
"Anika and Kellian did an excellent job of working together for most of the race, and they both ran very well today," said Henning.
 
The women's top-5 all finished within one minute and 20 seconds of one another, getting five runners inside of the race's top-35. Lyndee Dawson (19^th – 18:48), Emily Ransom (25^th – 19:06) and Ilima Kung (35^th – 19:20) rounded out Biola's scoring five. The other two runners a part of the Eagles' top-7 (Kaili Waller and Stephanie Croy) finished within six seconds of Kung.
 
"The women came out with a lot of energy and were definitely ready for a race," said Henning. "The nice thing about having depth is that even when a few girls struggle a bit, we have three more young girls ready to step up to help their team out."
 
The men also put in a solid effort on Saturday morning led by their senior Kevin Horchler. Horchler finished third overall in the field of 140 with his 25:26 and helped the guys to a fifth-place finish with 165 points.
 
The point total put them just one spot behind No. 12 The Master's College and helped them finish three spots in front of No. 23 Vanguard.
 
"We had some very good individual performances," said Henning. "If we can just get our pack a little tighter and stay focused on the middle miles, we will be just fine. I think this was a good first race that helps give us a better picture of where we are at."
 
Behind Horchler among Biola's finishers is freshman Ryan Thompson. Thompson placed 36^th in his first collegiate race by posting a 26:56. Also scoring in the Eagles' top-5 was Jonathan O'Neil (51^st – 27:31), Shane Brinson (60^th – 27:41) and Wes Noyes (69^th – 28:00).
 
The men's pack was a bit looser than the women's was, with two minutes and 34 seconds separating Biola's 1-5 finishers. Considering half the team had never run a collegiate 8k before, that's not too shabby.
 
Thompson's performance and the run from Jonathan O'Neil, who had never before competed in a cross country race and played soccer at Biola last year, were the standouts after Horchler's top finish.
 
The cross country teams have next weekend off before getting back into competition on Saturday Sept. 19 at The Master's College Mustang Challenge.