SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--- The Biola track and field teams' distance runners concluded the Mike Fanelli Track Classic and three Eagles from the women's track and field squad participated in the Stanford Invitational. 

Mike Fanelli Track Classic Biola wrapped up the three-day Mike Fanelli Track Classic that originated in 2008 as the San Francisco State Distance Carnival and was renamed in 2019 after one of SFSU's track and field alumni and former coach Mike Fanelli. 

The 2023 field included track and field athletes from various universities, community colleges and a handful of unattached athletes/teams. 

The Eagles ran in four events including the women's and men's 1 mile and 800m run.

The one mile run was dominated by Biola runners. The top end of the results were littered with Eagles, including a clean sweep at the podium. 

Bethany Mapes was the winner in the event, taking first place with a time of 5:03.24. The freshman was followed by teammate, Grace Catena, who nabbed silver at 5:05.96. Just four seconds later, Britta Holmberg crossed the finish line, as she took third for a 1-2-3 Biola showing.

The strong performances continued to come in with two more Eagles landing in the top 10, including Karis Brown and Haleigh Guerrero.

On the men's side, Aidan Tomasini kicked it off for Biola with a fourth place finish in the one mile run. The sophomore came in with a time of 4:17.48, just fractions of a second off his previous best. Jerry Baltzer (6th), Ryan Todd (7th), Brady DeHaven (9th), and Jacob Shirota (10th) were not far behind, adding four more top-10 placements for BU.

Hannah Champness led Biola's women with a 17th-place finish in the 800m run. Champness crossed the line at 2:14.04. BU had two other runners finish in the top 50. Hailey Wurzbach placed 44nd (2:18.47) and Jordan Gossett was 47th (2:18.84).

Hailey Schadt and Emily Jensen also raced in the 800m run, placing 80th and 91st respectively. 

The men were led by Caleb Murphy who finished 47th with a time of 1:57.84. Aidan Arredondo and Nicolas Geringer were Biola's final runners who placed 53rd and 64th respectively. 

Stanford Invitational Meanwhile, three Eagles from the women's team were competing in the Stanford Invitational at the Cobb Track and Angell Field Friday, Mar. 31 to Saturday, Apr. 1.

Lynette Ruiz raced against a competitive group of 33 athletes in the 10,000m run. Ruiz finished 25th with a time of 34:27.55 and was the first Division II runner to cross the line. 

Maggie Williams raced in the 800m run and finished with a time of 2:11.94.

Rebeka Preston represented Biola in the triple jump where she placed 10th with a jump of 11.88m.

The track and field teams race next on Saturday, Apr. 8 at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational. The invite will begin at 9 a.m. at the Strehle Track.