SANTA CLARITA, Calif.---The Biola men's cross country teamed up to execute a solid showing at the Master's Invite, Jerry Baltzer and Charlie Bailey paced the group as the Eagles' top two finishers. 

"This race was a springboard of great things to come for that group," stated head coach Sean Henning. "The men are in a good place as a team. The Lord in his sovereignty has a plan for this season, and we need to lean into his timing. We are prayerful that we will be at our best at the end, while always striving to worship God with great effort."

The Eagles placed third of 22 teams in the 8k at Central Park. Ahead of Biola was invitational Champions and host The Master's. The reigning GSAC Champions who also placed third in the 2022 NAIA Cross Country National Championships totaled a team score of 44 which was 53 points better than Pomona Pitzer who collected 97 team points in second place. Biola rounded out third, just 10 team points behind the Sagehens with a team score of 107.

The invite was composed of a large field of 236 athletes and six of Biola's 11 runners placed in the top 50.

Jerry Baltzer led the charge with a ninth-place finish and a speedy time of 24:30.3.

Charlie Bailey was the next Eagle to cross the finish line, placing 16th with a personal best time of 24:39.5. His previous best was 25:41.8 at the Eagles' first meet of the season, the Biola Invitational.

Behind Bailey was Melt von Molendorff (21st, 24:54.1), Aidan Tomasini (27th, 25:02.3), Ben Sonneland (36th, 25:15.8), Aidan Arredondo (44th, 25:27.7), Jeremiah Echeverria (51st, 25:37.3), Aiden Sherer (70th, 25:57.4), Jake Sorani (74th, 25:59.3), Luke Poarch (75th, 25:59.6) and Zachary Wallace (147th, 27:34.2).

Next up for the Eagles is the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 7 in Claremont, California.