FULLERTON, CALIF. --- The Biola Men's Cross Country team hit the ground running at the Biola Invitational, at Ted Craig Regional Park, in Fullerton, California. The Eagles met the high expectations placed on them, as the top ranked squad in the PacWest Preseason Poll, taking first place on Friday. 

The Eagles had a strong showing in their 2021 season opening 8k event, championing over the field of 21 teams. BU played host on Friday at its home course of Ted Craig Regional Park and slipped by Cal State San Marcos for the win. The two teams were separated by just one point with BU notching a team time of 2:06:46, which actually came up .03 seconds shy of the Cougars. The team time for the Eagles was the sixth-best mark in the program's history.

Biola was led by Brady DeHaven, who recorded a fifth place finish. DeHaven was cruising through the course for a 25:04.2 time, which came in tied for 25th in program history, while also marking his third time within the top-25.

"It's really exciting to be back on the grass," commented DeHaven. "I fought really hard just to see where I'm at physically but I'm happy with what I was able to do."

Jared Donnel closely followed DeHaven by 10 seconds, finishing in eighth place with a time of 25:14.1. Daniel Perez, Angel Escobar and Jerry Baltzer rounded out the scoring for BU. The trio crossed the finish line in a tight pack, nabbing 13th, 14th and 15th place. Perez completed the race first with a time of 25:26.7, followed closely by Escober and Baltzer with times of 25:29.3 and 25:31.5, respectively.

The Biola cross country squad saw many new faces, after the two-year hiatus. Baltzer (15th), Ryan Sorensen (22nd), Aidan Tomasini (26h), Aidan Arredondo (32nd), Nathan Vallejo (34th), Will Durrance (38th), Jacob Shirota (41st) and Caden Sanchez (58th) all made their debut for Biola cross country. The Eagles showed their depth, as runners 6-10 for BU would have placed 5th amongst the field.

"I thought the men ran well, just working off of each other," commented BU Assistant Coach Stephanie Croy about the men's showing on the course. "We are going to keep continuing to work together and use our successes and mistakes from today to help us later on in the season,"

The Eagles will travel to Santa Clarita, California for their next race on September 25 at The Master's Invitational.