POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. --- Biola Cross Country added two new big, blue banners to its collection with national championship runs from both the men and women's teams at the National Christian College Athletic Association championship meet.

For the men, it makes it two-consecutive championship season. The women win their first NCCAA national title and Biola's sixth total in the last two seasons. In addition to the team titles, Gabe Plendcio defended his individual championship with a time of 25:35.

He spent most of the race working to pull his teammates up through the pack and then broke away over the last mile to win by about a half-minute.

All seven men finished in the top-16 in the 66-man field. Biola topped the team leaderboard among the nine teams competing.

"I thought they did a great job of executing this morning. Our goal was to have seven in the top-15 and the guys did a great job of putting themselves up their by the mile," said Head Coach Sean Henning. "This was a great way to end the season. Coming out with six All-Americans and winning the championship by a landslide."

The Eagles recorded a team score of 25 points to win the event by 26 points over the second-place team, Campbellsville.

All seven female runners finished inside of the top-11 in the 71-person women's race. That was good enough for all seven runners to earn NCCAA All-American status, which goes to the top-15 finishers.

Mackenna Mason paced the women's effort with a time of 18:55 to finish third overall. That was an 11-spot improvement for her over her All-American finish of 14th last year.

"On the women's side, this might have been our best race of the season," said Henning. "Our usual top-3 were up there, but then the next four girls all stepped up in a BIG WAY. To have seven in the top-11 is absolutely fantastic."

The women's team won the event by putting up a team tally of 29 points to win the event by 26 points over the second-place team, Trinity Christian.

Following Mason was:
Clara Haynes - 5th - 19:19
Emily Ransom - 6th - 19:31
Mandy Reyes - 7th - 19:37
Micaela Pulliam - 8th - 19:40
Kaili Waller - 10th - 19:43
Kaitlyn Natividad - 11th - 19:45

"The girls have worked really had this season, and it was so fulfilling and rewarding to see them finish the way they did," said Henning. "This race really showed the 'next girl up' mentality our team needs every single year."

Following Plendcio in the men's order of finish was:
Ryan St. Pierre - 4th - 26:22
Jared Donnel - 5th - 26:25
Gio Orellana - 7th - 26:36
Brady DeHaven - 8th - 23:37
Christian Perez - 13th - 26:52
Nic Nelson - 16th - 27:08

"Gabe ran great and won comfortably," said Henning. "He has had a great season and I am extremely proud of the growth he has had over the past few years. He is a special runner and is just scratching the surface of what he's capable of."

Biola wraps up a tremendous cross country season with today's championships. The Eagles don't have much time to rest though, as they will turn their attention to track & field season.