FRESNO, Calif. --- Championship Week continues for the PacWest Conference as Fresno Pacific hosts the 2018 PacWest Track & Field Championships this weekend. Biola Track & Field got off to a strong start to the competition on Friday, seeing four student-athletes earn All-PacWest honors and having plenty more set all-time bests.

Sarah Prystupa was the first Eagle to claim all-conference recognition as she cleared 3.40m to finish second in the pole vault. The sophomore has now earned all-conference honors in each of her first two seasons after placing third in the GSAC meet a year ago.

Anna Maumalanga, the Eagles' record-setting freshman thrower, excelled in her bread and butter event, the discus. She placed third in the discus toss with a 42.09m heave. It marked the fourth time this season where she cleared 42 meters.

The women's 3,000m steeplechase was a premier event for Biola with three runners coming in the top seven and scoring points for the Eagles. Stephanie Croy led the way to bring in her first PacWest Track & Field honors. She placed second with a 10:53.41 to earn all-conference. Hannah Hunsaker (11:38.04) and Mandy Reyes (11:40.11) also brought in some points for BU.

Finally, Ryan Thompson claimed his first All-PacWest honors by placing third in the men's 10,000m run. He completed the meet's longest event in 32:05.98, giving him a 60 second buffer in front of the fourth-place runner. He was just 15 seconds back from the champion from Academy of Art.

Biola's women scored 37 points in the opening day to sit fairly securely in fourth place. Academy of Art is 19 points back from BU in fifth. Azusa Pacific is 10 points in front of the Eagles in first. The men scored 19 points on day one to sit sixth.

Nathaniel Belden brought in five of those points in the javelin. He set a new career-best with a 46.33 to finish fourth. He was just a meter back from what could have been all-conference honors. Belden also finished sixth in the 110m hurdles prelims to qualify for Saturday's finals.

The Eagles had ten individual efforts in prelims that successfully qualified the student-athlete for a finals event on Saturday. Perhaps most notable of those performances was Ryan St. Pierre's 1,500m run. The freshman ran it in four minutes flat to pace the field in prelims with nearly a five second gap between he and the second-place runner. Keep an eye on that finals tomorrow as BU could have a shot at its first individual champion.

The Eagles' javelin group had a great day at the track. We mentioned Belden's PR and strong finish above, but along with his PR, Jensyn Lown (31.91m) and Corry Williams (39.08m) also set new collegiate bests.

It's another full slate of competition at the FPU Track on Saturday as Biola will once again compete for more all-conference honors and perhaps a few championships. See the full schedule below and follow along at this live scoring link.

Field event schedule
8:15 am Hammer men-FINAL
Hammer women -FINAL to follow men
10:00 am HIGH JUMP men-FINAL
Noon TRIPLE JUMP men –FINAL
1:00 pm SHOT PUT men-FINAL
1:30 pm HIGH JUMP women-FINAL
2:00 pm TRIPLE JUMP women-FINAL
2:30 pm SHOT PUT women-FINAL

Track event schedule
12:25 pm Opening Ceremony & National Anthem
12:40 pm 4 x 100 women-FINAL
12:45 pm 4 x 100 men-FINAL
12:55 pm 1500 meters women-FINAL
1:05 pm 1500 meters men-FINAL
1:15 pm 100 Hurdles women-FINAL
1:25 pm 110 Hurdles men-FINAL
1:40 pm 400 meters women-FINAL
1:45 pm 400 meters men-FINAL
1:55 pm 100 meters women-FINAL
2:05 pm 100 meters men –FINAL
2:15 pm 800 meters women-FINAL
2:25 pm 800 meters men-FINAL
2:40 pm 400 hurdles women-FINAL
2:50 pm 400 hurdles men-FINAL
3:00 pm 200 meters women-FINAL
3:10 pm 200 meters men-FINAL
3:25 pm 5000 meters women-FINAL
3:50 pm 5000 meters men-FINAL
4:10 pm 4 x 400 women-FINAL
4:15 pm 4 x 400 men-Final
4:30 pm Closing Ceremony & Award Presentations