LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The PacWest Conference cross country coaches released their preseason rankings on Wednesday and Biola Women's Cross Country tied with Azusa Pacific and was picked to finish fourth among the conference's 14 teams.
 
The defending champions, California Baptist University, were selected to repeat. They led the poll by 20 points with 194 points and took all 14 first place votes. Biola finished behind them, Point Loma and Academy of Art with 148 total points.
 
The Eagles won the Golden State Athletic Conference in 2016 and will be eager to see where they stack up during their first season in the PacWest. They took home four of the last five GSAC titles during their time in that conference.
 
Head Coach Sean Henning returns a good chunk of his roster from 2016, but he is missing out on returning an All-American in Lyndee Dawson. Dawson will be serving as an assistant coach this season.
 
He is confident in his team and has the expectation of a top-3 finish and trip to Mississippi for the National Christian College Athletic Association national championship meet.
 
The season begins Saturday Sept. 9 at Ted Craig Regional Park in Fullerton as Biola hosts its second-annual Biola Invitational.