IRVINE, Calif. --- The kickoff to the new campaign for Biola women's cross country went swimmingly for BU. The team hosted the season opener in the Biola Invitational and took first place amongst the talented field. Bethany Mapes paced the squad in third place as an individual to pick up the conference weekly honor of runner of the week.

The BU team took care of business at its first event of 2023. The Eagles played host to the Biola Invite in Fullerton, California and was the team to beat on Friday. 

Six of the first 10 finishers wore the red and white of Biola, including the third through fifth place finishers. The team score came out to 28, which led the second place team in the Master's by 10 points. The strong team results put the Eagles in line for the PacWest Team of the Week honor, as announced on Monday.

The leader in the clubhouse for Biola, also grabbed a weekly honor in Mapes. The sophomore was the PacWest Runner of the Week, after her third place showing at the Biola Invitational. She posted a time of 17:56.1 in the 5k race and came up just .1 seconds shy of second place.

Biola women's cross country will be back in action at the Master's Invitational on Saturday, September 23.