LA MIRADA, Calif. --- It's been a big week for Biola Athletics in terms of PacWest Conference awards. The Eagles added two more honors to their tow as Mackenna Mason was named conference runner of the week and Gio Orellana earned freshman of the week honors.

It was the first weekend of competition for Biola Cross Country and it was a good one. The Eagles finished higher than all other PacWest Conference competiton at the 2017 Biola Invitational. Mason finished the race second overall and was the highest individual finisher in the PacWest on the women's side (17:56).

"Mackenna ran with a ton of confidence on Saturday and looked like a savvy veteran," said Head Coach Sean Henning. "We are so blessed to have her here at Biola. She will be a huge addition to our women's program both athletically and otherwise. She cares very deeply for her teammates and I know she cares way more about the team success rather than her own."

Orellana placed seventh overall on the men's side and was the fastest PacWest freshman in the race. His 25:50 was just a few milliseconds behind a freshman from El Camino College who took home the title of fastest freshman in the race.

"Gio had a fantastic start to his college career," said Henning. "He has been battling injury over the last couple of weeks, so I was really happy to see him race and run so confidently. He is a fantastic young man who has so much going for him and I am excited to see how the Lord grows him over this first collegiate season."

Mason is also a freshman, which says a lot about Henning's initial NCAA Division II recruiting class. Orellana and Mason were two of what was many bright spots for the Eagles on opening weekend.

With these two and Madyson Brown of women's soccer, Biola was responsible for three of the 13 conference award winners this week. Notre Dame de Namur and Point Loma also won three awards, which tied them for most in the conference.