By: Billi Derleth, Assistant Sports Information Director
LONG BEACH, Calif.--- The Biola track and field teams concluded the second day of Long Beach State's Beach Opener.
The Eagles competed against a wide range of participants from Division I, Division II, community colleges and elite club and open athletes from professional leagues.
There were three other Division II universities in attendance including Cal State San Marcos, Cal Poly Pomona, and rival Azusa Pacific.
Out of the 22 total track events, Biola had athletes competing in 12 which included the women's and men's 400m relay, women's 100m hurdles, men's 110m hurdles, women's and men's 100m dash, men's 800m run, men's 400m hurdles, women's and men's 200m dash, and women's and men's 1600m relay.
And of the 12 field events, BU had athletes compete in all but two which included the women's high jump, women's pole vault, women's and men's long jump, women's and men's triple jump, women's shot put and women's and men's discus throw.
Rebeka Preston headlined for the Eagles, excelling in the 100m hurdles and the triple jump. Preston led BU in both events. She finished 11th in the 100m hurdles which was her fastest time in the past two years (14.70) and recorded Biola's highest finish of the day, third place, in the triple jump. Preston's distance of 12.17m was a personal best and earned her a NCAA provisional mark in the triple jump. Preston's triple jump performance was the best of all DII athletes and .57 further than APU's Olivia Baerny who came in third.
Sophia Morris also did well in the 100m hurdles, recording BU's second highest finish in that event which was a personal best of 15.44 (18th overall).
Keaiah Moore led BU in the 100m dash, crossing the line 20th with a time of 12.61. Audrey Mousa also had a strong performance where she finished 20th in the 200m dash which was a personal best for the freshman.
Hanna Bevan and Jada Pierce recorded top-10 finishes in their respective field events. Bevan had the third highest finish of all DII jumpers, finishing 10th with a distance of 1.56m.
Pierce tied for ninth with DI Army West Point's Sara Sahadi in the shot put. Pierce was the second DII athlete to finish, recording a distance of 12.22m.
On the men's side, Josh Jackson recorded the Eagles' second highest finish of the day and the men's highest finish. Jackson placed fourth in the triple jump, recording a distance of 13.65m. He was the second highest DII finisher, ahead of jumpers from DI UC Irvine and UC San Diego.
Jack Sapyta and Mathias Davis also recorded impressive performances. Sapyta led Biola in the 100m dash which translated as a 20th place finish with a time of 11.17. Later in the day, Davis led BU with a 20th place finish in the 200m dash. Davis was the third DII runner to finish in a competitive field of athletes.
Head coach Sean Henning reflected, "We still have a lot of work to do, but I'm glad we have a lot more competitions on the horizon and I think we will be trending up from here all the way to the finish."
