SANTA CLARITA, Calif. --- Biola Cross Country impressed at The Master's Invitational taking second place in the men's and women's races. The Saturday event was held in Santa Clarita at Central Park.

The men's cross country squad ran fewer athletes than normal with nine Eagles hitting the course on Saturday. The limited crew delivered for BU, nabbing second place with a 2:07:19.6 team time. The overall time for Biola matched its sixth-best time in program history in the 8k race.

The top two finishers for BU placed amongst the top-20 individuals with the final two scorers for the Eagles sneaking inside the top-25. Jerry Baltzer paced Biola, earning sixth place with a time of 24:54.1. The stellar run helped Baltzer slip into the 16th-ranked time in BU history.

"Jerry Baltzer had himself a great race," commented head coach Sean Henning. "He ran patient in the beginning and closed extremely well, finishing in sixth place and three seconds off of the previous course record."

Ryan Sorenson followed Baltzer with a time of 25:18.1 and a 16th-place finish. Fellow Biola newcomer, Ronald Kigen scored next for BU, nabbing 21st-place with a time of 25:33.8. Aidan Arredondo and Charlie Bailey rounded out the scorers for Biola finishing 23rd and 25th with times of 25:45.0 and 25:48.4, respectively.

On the women's side, Lynette Ruiz continued to leave her mark as the freshman gave Biola its best finish on the day and helped power the Eagles to a second place team finish behind NCAA Division I Loyola Marymount. Biola placed four runners in the top-20 as Henning was very pleased with what he saw from his team today.

"We ran a team time that is 50 seconds faster than we did in 2018 with two of our top girls out," said Henning, "so that is very promising moving forward."

While Biola did earn a second place team finish, the Eagles didn't get the start they were hoping for. "We unfortunately weren't very assertive at the start of the race and got stuck back a ways," commented Henning. 

A tough start required Henning's team to work their way up throughout the first half of the race. As a team, the Eagles were sure to work together and Henning saw tremendous effort from each individual. "I'm excited to see what they continue to do as the season progresses," said Henning.  

Ruiz finished in ninth place with a time of 17:49.0 to give Biola a top-10 finisher. She was followed closely by Britta Holmberg who finished in 13th place with a mark of 18:21.6.

Holmberg continues to be solid for Biola and is still continuing to develop. "Britta is so close to a huge breakthrough," said Henning. "I'm excited to see her continue to get better each race." 

Megan Neumann and Mackenna Mason secured back-to-back finishes coming in 16th and 17th place with times of 18:23.7 and 18:29.1 respectively. Neuman raced confidently and proved to not only her team but herself that she can run well in big races. Mason raced for the first time this year, her experience and leadership will prove valuable to Henning and his team as she continues to return to form. 

For the first time in her collegiate career, Hannah Champness raced in a cross country meet and ran very well. Champness earned a 26th place finish with a time of 18:43.5. Daisy Romero and Haleigh Guerrero also ran for the first time this year, finishing in 32nd and 36th place overall. 

Overall, Henning was very happy to be out in Santa Clarita racing today. "It was a beautiful day to go race and bring the Lord joy through our best efforts," said Henning. "This group should be very proud of themselves, I'm looking forward to continuing the journey the Lord has us on this year."

Biola is back in action on October 9, as the Eagles prepare for the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational in Claremont, California.