FULLERTON, Calif. --- The Biola men's and women's track and field teams divided up to compete in two meets. The distance runners took off to race at the Oxy Distance Carnival and the majority of BU's athletes went to compete in the second day of the Ben Brown Invite.
Both meets featured a mixture of athletes from Division I, II, III, NAIA, community colleges and individuals from elite club and professional leagues.
Oxy Distance Carnival
The Eagles' distance runners gave it their all at the Oxy Distance Carnival hosted by Occidental College.
Biola participated in four distance events including the men's and women's 800m run and men's and women's 5000m run.
The women crushed it during the 800m run. All of the Eagles were in the top 20 and they had four of the top five finishers which included all podium finishes. Freshman Maggie Williams crossed the line first with a time of 2.11.57 and she was followed by Hannah Champness in second (2:15.76) and Hailey Wurzbach in third (2:16.29).
Jordan Gossett came in fifth (2:18.27) and Emily Jensen wrapped up the group in 18th (2:28.11).
On the men's side, Melt Von Molendorff placed in the top 10. Von Molendorff was the 7th leg to cross the finish line with a time of 1:55.53.
Next came the 5000m race and the Eagles continued to show their strength. Lynette Ruiz was the top dog, earning the victory at 17:01.36. Britta Holmberg also grabbed a top-10 finish for BU. The junior nabbed sixth and was followed by her teammates Grace Catena in 11th, Lolo Landrith in 12th, and Karis Brown in 15th.
Ben Brown Invite
Meanwhile, Biola participated in 15 of the 24 events at Cal State Fullerton's Ben Brown Invitational.
Biola competed in five field events which included women's pole vault, men's and women's high jump, women's triple jump and women's discus throw.
AJ Antonio represented Biola in the high jump where he recorded a height of 1.85m which made him 13th overall and the third best Division II athlete in that event. On the women's side, Hanna Bevan had the Eagles' highest mark. Bevan placed 13th in the high jump, recording a distance of 1.56m.
Kathryn Thompson represented the Eagles in the triple jump where she placed 13th and recorded a distance of 11.02m. Reanna Maroon reached a mark of 3.30m on Saturday in the pole vault event.
The Eagles raced in nine track events which included the 110m hurdles, 100m hurdles, men's and women's 400m run, men's and women's 100m dash, women's 400m hurdles and men's and women's 200m dash.
Rebeka Preston recorded Biola's highest finish of the meet and set a new personal record in the 400m hurdles. Preston crossed the line third against a competitive group of 24 athletes with a speedy time of 1:02.41 which was the Eagles' only podium finish of the meet. Preston was the highest DII finisher in the 400m hurdles and placed above runners from DI Hawai'i, Cal State Fullerton, UC San Diego, and UCLA.
Preston also led the Eagles in the 100m hurdles, coming in 16th with a time of 14.92. Behind Preston was Priscilla Jones in 27th, Joley Sproul in 30th and Sophia Morris in 32nd.
Stefan Jungmichel received Biola's highest finish in the 110m hurdles. Jungmichel placed 15th with a time of 15.13 and was followed by Christian Lukes in 20th and Alex White who finished 32nd.
Mathias Davis crossed the line first for Biola in the 400m run. Davis placed 24th with his time of 50.88. On the women's side, Maria Vidal Poy was BU's first leg across. Vidal Poy placed 24th with her time of 1:01.17. Audrey Mousa was also in the top 30, coming in 28th with her time of 1:02.12.
Jack Ferrence finished first for Biola in the men's 100m dash. Ferrence received 39th for his time of 11.29 and Kelaiah Moore represented BU in the women's 100m dash, recording a 31st place finish with a time of 12.79.
The last two track events of Saturday were the men's and women's 200m run. Dominic Castro finished first for the men, coming in 30th with a time of 22.84. Mousa received Biola's first finish this time around for the women, placing 34th with a time of 26.68. Priscilla Jones was close behind Mousa, crossing the line just five milliseconds later in 35th.
The track and field teams are scheduled to compete next at Point Loma's Ross & Sharon Irwin Invitational. The meet takes place on Saturday, Mar. 18 at 9 a.m. at the PLNU Track & Field.
CLICK HERE to follow along with the men's track and field schedule.
CLICK HERE to follow along with the women's track and field schedule.
