LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Track & Field had a very busy past few days as members of the team competed at a trio of well known meets around Southern California. There were Eagles representing Biola at the Mt. Sac Relays, Azusa Pacific Bryan Clay Invitational and Long Beach State Beach Invite.
 
"This was a great opportunity for our team gain some experience being exposed to big meets with tons of competition from all over the country," said Head Coach Sean Henning. "It was really helpful for them to compete in heats and flights with lots of competition so that they could try to step up to the challenge of great competition and hopefully perform well."
 
The Eagles sent members to the Bryan Clay Invitational on Thursday and Friday and performed well at the meet that was loaded with talent as usual. A large portion of the Eagles' squad attended this meet, while just distance and middle distance runners were sent to Long Beach and Mt. SAC.
 
Megan Crumley was one of the highlights of Biola's competition in Azusa. She set a new personal-best in the shot put at 11.00m and finished eighth in her flight.
 
On the track it was Tim Seeberger and Jonathan O'Neil who stole the show. The pair both ran new season-bests in strong showings in the 1,500m. O'Neil finished second in his section with a 4:07 while Seeberger claimed third in his section at 4:19.
 
Brian Marcus showed improvement in one of the shorter races as his 400m hurdles came in at :56.10.
 
"He will keep getting better and will hopefully take a crack at hitting a qualifying time in that event over the next few weeks," said Henning.
 
The Eagles brought three pole vaulters to Azusa with Nicole Falkenstein headlining the way. Falkenstein finished ninth among the field of 28 women with her mark of 3.61m. That was another 'A' qualifying effort for the senior.
 
Elyse Harabedian competed in a world-class heptathlon field and came away with mixed results. She set new personal-bests in the shot put, high jump and 200m, but struggling with the long jump and javelin. Her effort in the high jump was especially impressive though at 1.66m.
 
The middle distance and distance team mostly doubled up at the Mt. Sac Relays and Long Beach State Beach Invitational. It was a good weekend for some of the usual suspects as Henning highlighted Anika Gasner, Lyndee Dawson, Alisa Murray, Hannah Hunsaker and a handful of standout men.

Andrew Daedler had a strong 800m race at LBSU as he burned around the brand new track with a 1:54, which is less than a second off a national qualifying time. Wes Noyes competed in the same event and bounced back well after a struggle the night before at Bryan Clay to post a solid 1:54.
 
"It was also helpful for some of our middle distance and distance athletes to have to compete back-to-back this weekend to simulate the rounds they will be going through at nationals and to get a couple of great opportunities to run fast," said Henning.
 
Gasner was definitely one of the ones to run fast this weekend. At APU she led the 1,500m for two and a half laps and came home with a new personal-best of 4:33 and a second-place finish in her section.  She battled through another slow pack in Long Beach and managed an 800m time of 2:15.
 
Dawson took the top spot in the country in the 3,000m steeplechase on Thursday night. She finished sixth in her section at Mt. SAC with a seven second personal-best of 10:41. Just one night later she ran the second best 1,500m of her career as she placed seventh in her section at the Bryan Clay Invite with a 4:37.

Kellian Hunt also moved up the national rankings as she ran the second-best 1,500m in the NAIA with a 4:31 at Mt. SAC.
 
Alisa Murray ran that same event at APU and hit the NAIA 'A' standard with a 4:38. Then she hopped over to Long Beach and ran the 800m in 2:14 to add another 'A' standard during a very strong weekend at the track.
 
Hunsaker completed the same double as Murray and set a new personal-best in the 800m with a 2:18.
 
"She showed a lot of fight and determination this weekend," said Henning.
 
After a busy weekend of bouncing around Henning's team will take next weekend off to rest and prepare for the following weekend's Golden State Athletic Conference Championships held at Westmont College.