LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Cross Country hits the road for its second week of competition and has its first evening event of the 2019 season. For the men, it will be the first time competing as ranked NCAA Division II program. The Eagles were announced as the No. 23 team in the nation on Wednesday. The Eagles compete Friday night at Western Oregon's Sundowner Invitational. The race is held at the same course that will host the 2019 NCAA Division II West Region Championships in November. A group of runners will also go Saturday to CSU San Bernardino's Coyote Challenge.

THIS WEEK: Sundowner Invitational at Ash Creek Preserve. Women's 6k at 5 p.m. Men's 8k at 5:45 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20. // Coyote Challenge at CSU San Bernardino Campus. Women's 5k at 8 a.m. Men's 8k at 8:45 a.m.

MULTIMEDIA: Live results will be provided at https://live.athletictiming.net/meets/4260 (Sundowner). No live results for the CSUSB meet.

SUNDOWNER INVITATIONAL PREVIEW: Women's 6k Friday, Sept. 20 at 5 p.m. \\ Live Results \\ Course Map \\ Meet Information \\ Men's 8k Friday, Sept. 20 at 5:45 p.m. \\ Live Results \\ Course Map \\ Meet Information
The big draw to Friday night's races is that it will be a preview of the location of the NCAA Division II West Region Championships. Western Oregon is hosting that meet for the third time in the last six years. The Wolves are not currently ranked in the west region on the women's side, but typically field a competitive team. The only two ranked teams in the field are west region No. 5 Simon Fraser and west region no. 9 Biola. The ladies are back to full strength with the return of Clara Haynes at the top of the Eagles' lineup. Haynes was out of town for the season opener, but has consistently been Biola's no. 1 or no. 2 runner over the last calendar year. Every other team at the meet will be competing with Biola for the first time this season. The men's race features three of the top-10 teams in the west region, which also includes Biola. The highest-ranked team is Simon Fraser, which was no. 2 in the west in this week's poll. The Clan is also a top-10 team, nationally. The other ranked programs are Biola (no. 6) and Western Oregon (no. 10). This trip is a return to the Pacific Northwest for Jared Donnel, who's one of just two student-athletes on the team from outside of California. He came to Biola from Woodinville, Washington and Bellevue Christian School. 

FULL WOMEN'S FIELD: Alaska Fairbanks - Biola - Central Washington - Clackamas CC - Concordia Portland - Humboldt State - Lane CC - Oregon Running Club - Pacific (OR) - Portland - San Francisco State - Simon Fraser - Southwestern CC - Walla Walla - Warner Pacific - Western Oregon

FULL MEN'S FIELD: Alaska Fairbanks - Biola - Central Washington - Clackamas CC - Concordia Portland - Humboldt State - Lane CC - Oregon Running Club - Pacific (OR) - Portland - San Francisco State - Simon Fraser - Southwestern CC - Walla Walla - Warner Pacific - Western Oregon

COYOTE CHALLENGE PREVIEW: Women's 5k Saturday, Sept. 21 at 8 a.m. \\ Course Information \\ Meet Information \\ Men's 8k Saturday, Sept. 21 at 8:45 a.m. \\ Course Information \\ Meet Information
This weekend is the first of three dual-meet weekends for Biola Cross Country in 2019. The Eagles are sending full teams to Oregon on Friday and to San Bernardino on Saturday. Head Coach Sean Henning will have at least seven runners in both men and women's races at CSUSB. It's the Eagles' first time competing in the CSUSB meet since 2015. Shannon Howell and Kenzie Elliott will lead the Eagles' effort at CSUSB and Nic Nelson and Houston Reese will lead the men's side. 

LAST TIME OUT: The last race weekend for Biola came two weeks ago as the Eagles opened the season with their very own Biola Invitational. The men's side took second-place as a team, finishing behind only CSU San Marcos in the 18-team field. CSUSM also won the women's race, with Biola placing fourth out of 22 teams. Gabe Plendcio and Ryan Thompson stole the show, finishing first and second in the men's field Plendcio's effort earned him PacWest Conference Runner of the Week for the sixth time in his career. Thompson's finish was impressive considering it was his first cross country race for Biola since 2017. Mackenna Mason was the top finisher on the women's side, completing the 5k in 18:30.10. Biola was the top PacWest Conference team in both fields. The races featured almost every PacWest Conference team since the Eagles' home course is where this year's PacWest Championships will be held. Newcomers Grace Catena and Caroline Stetina both finished among Biola's top-5 runners and will figure to play a key role this week along with Mason and Clara Haynes (who should make her season debut).

IT'S GO TIME: The 2019 Biola Cross Country season has added significance in that it's the Eagles' first as full members in NCAA Division II. Back on July 12 the Biola campus received a call from the NCAA Division II Membership Committee notifying BU of its successful completion of the membership transition process. The change became official as of September 1 and now Biola is officially eligible for NCAA postseason play, national and regional rankings and official NCAA postseason honors for the first time. Biola will hope to have both teams qualify for the NCAA West Region Championships this fall. The Eagles will compete at preview meets for both NCAA Regionals and NCAA National Championships this season.

POLL POSITION: A strong opening week allowed Biola to remain in the USTFCCCA NCAA Division II West Region rankings. The men's side stayed in the same spot with a No. 6 regional ranking. The women dropped one spot to No. 9 as two teams who were previously unranked (UCSD, Stanislaus) snuck into the rankings. Both Biola teams are the only PacWest schools to appear in the regional rankings. Despite staying in the same spot in the regional rankings, the men's team managed to move up in the national rankings. The Eagles were receiving votes in the first edition of the national poll and moved into the top-25 at No. 23 this week. It's the first time any Biola team has appeared in an official NCAA Division II national poll.

PACWEST CHAMPIONSHIPS: Biola has the opportunity to host the 2019 PacWest Conference Championships on Saturday, Oct. 26. The Eagles will host the meet at Ted Craig Regional Park, using the same men's course as the Biola Invitational. The women's course will be set up a bit different, since they will run a 6k and the Biola Invitational is a 5k course. Azusa Pacific is co-hosting the event.

NEXT WEEK: Capital Cross Country Challenge hosted at Arcade Creek XC Course. Saturday, Sept. 28 at 9:40 a.m.