POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. --- Biola Cross Country season comes to a close at the end of this week, but before the team crosses the finish line it's got a pair of major races left. This is the week of the National Christian College Athletic Association National Championships. The men's team is looking to be the first Biola team to go 2-for-2 in national championships in this two-year NCCAAA era. The women's team is looking to move up one spot from last year's runner-up finish and should have a good shot at it!

THIS WEEK: NCCAA Championship meet - Bobcat Cross Country Course (Point Lookout, Mo.) - Saturday, Nov.. 10, 2018 at 8:00 a.m. PT (men's 8k first)

NCCAA National Championship Meet: Saturday Nov. 10 at 8:00 a.m. PT & 9:00 a.m. PT \\ Live Results
Biola Cross Country comes into the year-end NCCAA Championship meet riding high after the men's team took home Biola's first-ever PacWest Championship one week ago. The women's team battled their way to a third-place finish for the second-straight year in the stacked PacWest Conference. Now the attention shifts to the Eagles' second chance and NCCAA national titles. The men earned a blue banner with a team time of 2:09:40 in last year's race. The women were just short of a title of their own by running a 1:32:58 to finish 12 points back from the champions, Cedarville. This year, Biola comes into the meet with the best team times in the nation in both men and women's cross country. There are nine full teams competing in the men's race, with Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) being the team with the closest top team time to Biola. BU comes in with a top 8k time of 2:04:26. SAGU's top time is 2:11:51. The women's side is a little bit closer, but Biola still comes in with the top time. BU has a season-best 5k time of 1:32:40. The next closest team, that has runners at this meet, is Trinity Christian with a top time of 1:38:57. There are 10 teams with enough runners to score in the women's championship. In advance of the championship, the teams are coming together on the campus of College of the Ozarks on Friday to pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.

MEET ENTRIES (M) | MEET ENTRIES (W) | 5K COURSE MAP | 8K COURSE MAP

NOTE: There is an admission charge of $5 per vehicle, payable by cash or check at the site. The course is located near Camp Lookout at the far end of Opportunity Avenue on this campus map.

ABOUT LAST MEET: Last week, Gabe Plendcio led the Biola men to the Eagles' first-ever conference title. It also happened to be the first-ever PacWest title by any Biola program. Plendcio won the men's individual championship as well by pacing the field with a time of 24:43.8. It was his first individual conference championship. He won the NCCAA national championship last season and will look to repeat this year. The women finished third at the PacWest meet in order to secure their spot in this weekend's national championship. It was a close race between them and Academy of Art for that third spot, but BU managed to come out 10 points ahead to book their tickets to Missouri. Mackenna Mason was the Eagles' top finisher on the women's side, finishing with all-conference first team honors in sixth place with a 6k of 22:21.0.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS: Biola Cross Country had six men and four women earn all-conference recognition at last week's championship. The PacWest has a first team (1-7), second team (8-14) and third team (15-21) for each gender. Plendcio and Gio Orellana made the men's first team and Mason the women's. Then Angel Escobar, Jared Donnel and Brady DeHaven earned second team for the men, while Emily Ransom picked up that same honor on the women's side. Finally, Ryan St. Pierre, Clara Haynes and Mandy Reyes all racked up third team recognition.

NCCAA TOP TIMES: As mentioned above, Biola leads the NCCAA in team times for both genders. Gabe Plendcio has the best individual time among the men in the NCCAA this season, 23:59. Clara Haynes and Mackenna Mason are tied for the second-best 5k time in the NCCAA with a 17:58. Haynes' time was converted from a 6k run. The women's top runner, Makayla Hewell from Emmanuel College, is not listed in the entries for this weekend's race, possibly leaving the door open for a Biola individual champion  See full NCCAA Top Times.

NEXT EVENT: None.