ROMEOVILLE, Ill. --- The Biola cross country team took on tough competition at the Lewis Crossover and fought through adversity to put together a solid performance. The men finished in 11th, while the women landed in seventh in a loaded field of talent. Six more runners took to the course at the Pomona-Pitzer Invite to compete as individuals. 

Lewis Crossover
Biola brought 20 runners to the highly competitive Lewis Crossover in Romeoville, Illinois where the top five runners from each team were counted toward the team score. 

The Biola women traveled ten runners to the invite and competed against a strong field of 33 teams, nine of which were ranked by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).The ranked universities included No. 1 Grand Valley State, No. 3 Colorado School of Mines, No. 4. Winona State, No. 9 Colorado Christian, No. 16 Lewis, No. 23 Wayne State, No. 26 Saginaw Valley, No. 27 Western Washington and No. 29 Walsh. Biola was ranked 13th-best in the nation by the Oct. 4th poll that was released on Wednesday.

The Eagles ended up finishing seventh with a team score of 200 and came within four points of fifth place, No. 9 Colorado Christian.

Bethany Mapes paced the Eagles with a 15th place finish and a time of 21:38.8 and Susi Bruennig was not far behind in 33rd place at 22:03.4. Following Bruennig was Britta Holmberg (44th), Lynette Ruiz (50th), Karis Brown (63rd), Lolo Landrith (80th) and Hailey Wurzbach (116th).

"The women had a solid day, but not perfect," said head coach Sean Henning. "We unfortunately had some sickness run through the team but the girls still had a pretty solid day. The stand out racer for me today was Karis Brown. She stepped up when the team wasn't feeling well and that was huge."

The Biola men brought 10 runners to the invitational and raced against a competitive field of 30 teams in the 8k which included eight nationally ranked squads by the USTFCCCA. The ranked teams were No. 1 Colorado School of Mines, No. 5 Colorado Christian, No.10 Saginaw Valley, No. 11 Western Washington, No. 15 Wayne State, No. 18 Walsh, No. 22 Lewis and 30. Alaska Anchorage were all in attendance. Biola was receiving votes in the USTFCCCA's Oct. 4th poll.

The Eagles ended up finishing 11th with a team score of 303 and trailed 10th place Minnesota-Duluth by 20 points. 

Five Eagles finished in the top half of individuals. Ryan Todd led BU with a 36th place finish with a time of 24:49.1. Aidan Tomasini was the next best finisher with a personal best time of 24:55.9 which placed him 45th. Charlie Bailey came just behind Tomasini in 47th and recorded a time of 24:56.7. Jerry Baltzer finished 87 (25:18.5) and Aidan Arredondo came in 95th (25:21.3).

Behind Arredondo was Melt von Molendorff (116th, 25:31.4) and Ben Sonneland (126th, 25:36.3). 

"The guys fought really hard but injuries got in the way today," added Henning. "I'm proud of the guys for their effort today and we will get back to work on Monday and begin the build to the postseason."

Pomona-Pitzer Invitational
Biola had six individuals racing at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational which included four women and two men. 

Ella Voris led the Eagles in the 6k. Voris crossed the line with a time of 23:26.9 which placed her 16th of 122 athletes. Emily Jensen was Biola's next best, finishing 45th with a time of 24:34.6. 

Following Jensen was Alyssa Stumbo (61st, 25:07.6) and Miranda Zakhar (66th, 25:19.8).

On the men's side, two Eagles competed: Jake Sorani and Zachary Wallace. Sorani was Biola's leading finisher, placing 78th (27:38.2) and Wallace finished 90th (28:01.1) of the 145 runners.

Biola races next on Friday, Oct. 20 at the Titan Invitational in Fullerton, California.