LONG BEACH, Calif. --- After a brief pause, Biola Track & Field got back in action on Friday at the Beach Opener, hosted by Long Beach State. Friday was day one of the meet, with a more full slate of competition happening Saturday.

Friday was focused all on throws as there was men and women's hammer throw and javelin. Both events held big finishes for the Biola Eagles, with a school-record being recorded and an NCAA qualifying mark attained. 

"The goal of the meet was to shake off the rust for some who hadn't competed yet, get an outdoor mark for the conference meet and continue to gain experience in events for a lot of our freshmen who are still learning about collegiate track and field," said Head Coach Sean Henning. "And of course we were hoping to gain some personal bests along the way."

Jayme Budwig set the Biola school record in the women's hammer throw, tossing it 48.24m. She won her flight and just barely missed a spot in the finals, placing 11th overall.

Then, it was Kendra Sachse who stepped it up in the javelin to once again win the entire meet. She was not the top tosser in prelims, but she stepped it up in the finals portion to throw it 45.72m and get the win. She beat a trio of throwers from Army West Point who took second, third and fourth. 

The women's NCAA Division II automatic qualifying mark for javelin is 49.63m, with a provisional mark of 41.84m. 

"All of the javelin throwers had personal bests, as well as the hammer throwers," said Henning. "Jayme Budwig, a new addition to our program and grad student, threw a personal best and school record."

Rebeka Preston also finished top-15 in the javelin with a top toss of 31.77m.

"Rebeka Preston had a very good weekend," said Henning. "She ran her first-ever 100 hurdles and recorded a great time, set a personal best in the javelin and jumped a personal best in the triple jump, missing an NCAA provisional mark by .01. We had some solid days in the sprints."

Preston's triple jump effort was good enough to earn her second place at the meet with an 11.88m. She led a group of three Eagles that all finished inside of the top-5. Hannah Hubbard had an 11.33m to finish fourth and Julia Pitter rounded it out in fifth-place with a 11.36m

In a field with more competition, the men managed a pair of top-10 finishes in the triple jump event. Aaron Jackson finished eighth with his 13.68m and J'Vaughan Singleton was not too far behind in ninth (13.53m).

Gabe Plendcio had his first flashy finish of this track & field season, finishing second overall in the 3,000m. He went 8:27.57 to set a big personal-best and be beat by only two seconds. His personal-best was also good enough to beat the school record by about six seconds.

Nobody was beating Grace Catena in the women's 3,000m. She led another powerful trio of Eagles by recording a 10:18.99 to win the race. Mackenna Mason finished fourth (10:23.50) and Mandy Reyes also worked a top-10 finish, placing ninth with a 10:52.53.

Sarah Prystupa cleared 3.53m in the pole vault for a season-best mark. She placed seventh overall and is still working her way up to a new PR.

"All in all, I think there were a lot of positives to take away from the day, and we are happy to finish the day with more competition experience, a few personal bests, a couple school records, and an NCAA provisional mark," said Henning.

The team is back at it next weekend, continuing its string of seven-consecutive meet weekends leading up to the PacWest Conference Championships.