LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Athletics Week of Giving. What an amazing week it was. 

The support that came in from our Biola Athletics community and beyond was absolutely astounding. God is good.

In total, generous supporters gave over $71,000 for the department over the six-day push, with a total unique donor count of 1,058 donors. THIS IS INCREDIBLE.

"Thank you so much for your generous support," said Dr. Bethany Miller, senior director of athletics. "Your gifts will make a huge difference in the lives of our student-athletes and coaches. Thank you again for helping our student-athletes Reach New Heights at Biola University."

Biola Baseball was able to raise the highest dollar amount among men's programs ($11,772). Biola Volleyball led way among the women's teams with $8,627.17. Thank you to all who gave.

A prominent feature of this past week was the challenge awards provided by West Coast Sand & Gravel. The three men's teams and three women's teams to attain the highest number of unique donors to their programs earned a cash bonus from our sponsor.

Head Coach Sean Henning's Cross Country/Track & Field teams took in an additional $6,000 on the week by finishing first among both the men and women's programs. The men's track & field/cross country team had the highest number of unique donors overall (175). Combining the challenge awards and gifts received over $17,000 came into Biola Track & Field/Cross Country.

Head Coach Ryan Kauth's swimming & diving teams earned an additional $2,000 by finishing second among men's teams (155) and third among women's teams (107). Baseball (78) finished third on the men's side for a $500 bump. Women's Golf finished second on the women's side (115) for an additional $1,500. 

President Barry H. Corey announced a $5,000 matching gift for gifts given between 6 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. on the final day of the competition. Supporters were so giving that nearly $8,000 worth of new gifts came in during that time frame.

The matching gift was extended to match that total amount given! So, in addition to the $71,000+ raised, our teams can expect an additional $7,000+ to come into their accounts once all those numbers are crunched.

"I've been overwhelmed by the generous outpouring of support for our Biola coaches and student-athletes over this past week" Kevin Royse, Director of the Eagles Athletic Association. "We had high hopes for what the Biola Athletics Week of Giving would achieve, but by God's incredible grace those hopes were far exceeded. Thank you to all of the friends, family, alumni and fans that made this incredible week possible."

Every dollar given to a program goes into the coach's fundraising account and can be used for any number of purposes to benefit the student-athlete experience. This includes student aid, travel, equipment, uniforms, facility upgrades, etc.

As a department, we are so grateful for all who took the time to give last week. It was an overwhelmingly positive response to the first year of Athletics Week of Giving. We cannot thank you enough.

To see the full results from the week, please visit https://www.biola.edu/athletics-week-of-giving.