VENTURA, Calif. --- Head Coach Cory Page brought his team to Olivas Links Golf Club to play in their first tournament during his tenure as head coach on Sunday and saw his group have a strong start top to bottom in the first day of play on Monday.

As a team, the Eagles top-four carded a 299, equalling the number of sub-300 first rounds that the Eagles had a year ago.

The conditions were pretty good early in the round but turned windy on the back nine. Dominic Ariondo played very steady after a couple of early bogeys," said coach Page. "Bishop and Page were steady from start to finish, making par on 12 and 14, respectively. Kyle McAbee took a triple bogey on the par 5, 14th hole, but then rallied back with steady play and a couple of birdies in the round."

Seniors Austin Bishop and Dominic Ariondo both snuck into the top-25 on the individual leaderboard with a score of 74 (+2). They're both just three strokes outside of the top-10 after 18 holes while Kaden Page (+3) and Kyle McAbee (+4)  are both within two strokes of the Eagles' team lead.

"The windy conditions actually helped me focus deeper and I was able to make a lot of pars out there today", said Ariondo.  

The Eagles find themselves at least five strokes ahead of three other teams after the first round and will begin the second day tied with Pomona-Pitzer for eighth place. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps ran away with the lead on Monday, posting a 277 (-11) team score and are 11 strokes ahead of the nearest competitor.

On another bright note, Eagles' senior Benjamin Crumley returned to competition for Biola for the first time since Sep. 20, 2016 and shot his best round since Sept. 2, 2014 with a score of 83 (+11). Coach Page commended Crumley for battling through some difficulty find the fairway at the start of his round and is hoping for better things from his team on Tuesday.

"We're looking forward to getting back out there in the second round and making a move up the leaderboard," concluded Page.

The second round of play is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday.