LA MIRADA --- The reigning conference champs are back and fully loaded. A group of six incoming standouts refresh the BU women's cross country squad, as they look to defend their crown.

The new runners on the block included four true freshmen and two transfers. The mix of youth and experience will bring a needed depth to an impressive Biola squad that took the PacWest crown, finished third at regionals and 26th at nationals.

The incoming class will get their first opportunity to race at the Biola Invitational set for Friday. Sean Henning is looking forward to seeing his new group in action. "I'm really excited for this women's distance class. There are a lot of impact athletes, diamonds in the rough, and future leaders. We also have some young ladies who will need a year or two to develop but will eventually become really solid pieces for us. Our numbers and depth will grow our ability to score at the conference level. I believe there are also some young ladies who could make national runs either immediately or in a year or two, which will be exciting to watch."

Susi Bruennig, Universitaet Regensburg, Germany
Personal Bests: 800m-2:11 1,500m-4:31
Coach Henning: "I'm really excited to get Susi here training with the women's team. She brings a wealth of experience to our squad and will fit in perfectly with our middle distance training group. She is coming here to grow as a person and to better prepare herself to be a teacher back in Germany. I believe she will surprise some people in cross country, and should be very impactful in more ways than one in our program this year."

Kaitlin Seigle, San Lorenzo Valley HS, Felton, CA
Personal Bests: 400m-58.7 800m-2:15
Coach Henning: "Kaitlin is a diamond in the rough. She's had very little coaching over the years, and focused on the 400 and 800 in high school. She is very talented and with a bit of aerobic work could be something special. Kaitlin is a fantastic student and could have gone anywhere academically. She wanted a place that would really give her the opportunity to grow in her faith as well as academics and athletics, and we were a great fit for that. She will most likely redshirt and just train through the fall in preparation for track. I'm looking forward to watching her growth."

Alyssa Stumbo, Barlow H, Gresham, OR
Personal Bests: 800m-2:21 1,500m-4:57
Coach Henning: "Alyssa is a great fit for Biola and I really enjoyed getting to know her on her visit. She comes from the same high school as senior Charlie Bailey and had Biola on her radar for a long time. I know she values her faith tremendously and wants to grow as a young believer. I think Alyssa is just getting started in this sport. She has tremendous upside once she is in a consistent program with great runners. I think she will have a great freshman campaign and make massive jumps."

Aislin Taylor, Azusa Pacific University, Porterville, CA
Personal Bests: 1,500m-4:48 5,000m-17:58 10,000m-36:55
Coach Henning: "I'm looking forward to working with Aislin and seeing how she grows as a person in our program. She is a quiet worker and someone who really loves to run. She is transferring from APU so will need to sit out a year of competition due to intra conference transfer rules, but I think it will be a blessing for her to focus on getting strong physically, performing well in the classroom, and connecting with the girls on the team. She will be a big asset to this program in the future and I'm thankful to have her here with us."

Ella Voris, San Juan Hills HS, San Juan Capistrano, CA
Personal Bests: 800m-2:22 1600m-5:24
Coach Henning: "Ella is another one who has been looking at Biola for a while now. Her high school career has been a bit up and down, but she is talented. I expect massive jumps from this young lady, and I'm really happy the Lord brought her into our program!"

Miranda Zakhar, Tesoro HS, Aliso Viejo, CA
Personal Bests: 400m-64.4 800m-2:38
Coach Henning: "Miranda is such an awesome young lady, I love her attitude about sport, leadership, and being impactful in the things she's doing. She will be moving up in distance as her high school utilized her more in sprints, and she also has experience steepling at junior nationals. I'm excited to have Miranda's personality in this program, her passion for the sport is infectious and I look forward to seeing it every day."