SAN MARCOS, Calif. --- Just a few days after both teams received word they were ranked inside of the top-5 in the NAIA Biola Cross Country traveled to San Marcos to compete at the 2016 Cougar Challenge.
 
The Cougar Challenge is a much smaller field than the teams have gotten accustomed to competing in this season as there were just five teams on the men's side and seven teams on the women's side. The women's team took home the team title and had three runners in the individual top-5. The men's team placed second with three individuals in the top-10.
 
"I thought the women ran really well today. We set a new Biola team time record," said Head Coach Sean Henning. "CSU San Marcos is a very strong team and I knew they would put up a fight on their home course. I was hoping to see some girls step up on the back end and show that they want to be there at the end of the year, and I think we saw that from a few individuals."
 
Emily Ransom was the team's top finisher. The sophomore placed second overall with a 17:31. She battled directly with Natalie Rodriguez, the winner from CSU San Marcos, and finished just a second back from victory.
 
Hannah Hunsaker (17:49) and Lyndee Dawson (17:52) took third and fourth overall and helped the Eagles claim as many top spots as possible to help ensure the team win. Biola would end up besting the Cougars by eight points on their home course, winning the invite with 28 points total.
 
 "I was really happy with the collective effort of the team. We will put our heads down now and continue to grind in our preparation for the end of the season," said Henning.
 
He pointed out that a few of the highlights from the women's side were Ransom's impressive late run, the finishes of Stephanie Croy (8^th – 18:13) and Michelle Clark (11^th – 18:16) as his fourth and fifth runners and the effort put forth by freshman Mandy Reyes to move closer to being in the team's top-5. Reyes finished 12^th overall and was just five seconds back from Clark.
 
The men were racing in the smallest field they've seen all season, with just five teams and 47 total runners. They made the most of it by finishing all of their top-5 runners inside of the top-15 and all of their top-7 inside of the top-17.

CSU San Marcos claimed the team title on the guy's side with an incredible showing, taking 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 6^th and 10^th for their scoring spots. Biola's top finishers came in fifth (Gabe Plendcio – 25:28), eighth (Ryan Thompson – 25:39) and ninth (Miles Brubacher – 25:45).
 
"Today was a bit of a mixed bag for the men's team. We had some solid individual performances, which I was very happy with. Our top three did a great job of running together for most of the race," said Henning.
 
After the top-3 finishers there was a 21-second gap before Robbie Gleeson and Christian Perez crossed the line as the fourth and fifth scorers for BU. Gleeson ran a 26:06 and placed 13^th overall and Perez completed the course in 26:19 to place 15^th. Henning will look for that gap to be tightened a bit more as the team gets closer to postseason competition and hopes for a strong showing at the GSAC and national meets.
 
"I think it was a good learning experience for our guys and I am confident they will learn a lot from today's outcome, stay confident in the abilities God has given them, and continue to work hard to get better in preparation for the end of the year," said Henning. "The top performances today were Gabe leading the charge for us and having a very solid finish at the end of the race and Robbie Gleeson stepping up as our fourth runner and showing consistency in his racing ability."
 
The Eagles will run on short rest this week as Henning takes a contingent to this Friday evening's Titan Invitational hosted by CSU Fullerton. That is the final regular season meet before the GSAC Championships and William Jessup on Nov. 5.