BILLINGS, Mont. --- For the first time, the men's and women's Biola cross country teams both earned a spot at the NCAA DII National Championships. Both teams got the job done on Saturday in Billings, Montana scoring third place in the NCAA DII West Region Championships.

"I couldn't be more proud as a coach," commented Head Coach Sean Henning. "Both squads have worked extremely hard and created very strong team cultures that have been able to withstand the rigors that come with all seasons."

The BU men delivered on Saturday, kicking off the morning with a third place finish amongst a field of 22 talented teams. The team finished with 137 points, beating out fourth place Cal Poly Pomona by 10 and fifth place Azusa Pacific by 12. BU stepped up after falling to APU two weeks prior, improving in the longer 10k race.

"We are so grateful to God that the men's team was able to finish third today and book their ticket to NCAA Nationals in Sacramento," said Hennning. "All glory be to God! It was actually a difficult day for the boys. We had numerous guys who had challenging days where they either fell, dealt with an injury, or struggled to maintain their position. But all of them showed so much resolve, determination, and absolute commitment to their team and the goal for the day. Charlie had a very steady day for us today, and Ryan had the best race of his season by far. The two of them had the smoothest races for us. But as a team, we showed so much sacrificial love to each other, and the men glorified the Lord with their efforts today."

Melt Von Molendorff paced the BU squad on Saturday. The sophomore finished the 10k race for the first time in his Biola cross country career, clocking in at 31:04.41. Von Molendorff maintained a top-10 placement deep into the race and went on to take 13th place.

A veteran came through next for Biola, as Charlie Bailey scored a 26th place finish. The senior beat his previous best time by 10 seconds, finishing at 31:25.84. Fellow senior, Aidan Tomasini, also posted a career-best mark at 31:29.80 for 31st place.

The scoring continued with back-to-back placements from Rouxan le Roux and Ryan Todd. The duo locked in 33rd and 34th place to complete the 137 team scoreline. Le Roux crossed the finish line at 31:31.38 for 33rd place and Todd grabbed 34th four seconds later at 31:35.65.

Jacob Shirota produced a great time and placement in his first 10k race, in 38th place with a time of 31:44.17.

The PacWest Champions, Biola Women's Cross Country, was on the course next for their 6k race. The Eagles notched third place to earn the automatic bid to nationals amongst a field of 28 teams. The top five runners combined to score 141 points, which only trailed Chico State and Western Washington.

"We are very proud of the ladies and what they accomplished today," added Henning. "Getting an automatic bid for the third year in a row is something to be very proud of. We have battled through some adversity this season with injuries, illnesses, and even today we had one girl drop out and had another last minute substitution due to sickness. We still battled and fought hard for every point today. Bethany ran like a savvy veteran and grabbed a solid 7 points for us. Lynette had her best race at a regional meet and I couldn't be prouder. Jaina continues to learn quickly and moved up a lot throughout the race to garner All-Region honors, and Hailey moved well and maintained focus when it got difficult, securing her position in 38th. Karis fought hard to round out our scoring for the ladies."

The one-two punch of Bethany Mapes and Lynette Ruiz struck again, as the dynamic duo went for seventh and eighth place, respectively. Mapes never left the top eight on Saturday, improving on her time from the PacWest Championships by five seconds at 20:50.39. Ruiz logged a time of 21:06.85, beating out the ninth place runner by less than a second.

Freshman Jaina Kang was next up for BU, offering an impressive regionals debut. The young talent netted 23rd place with a time of 21:41.07, while improving her place on nearly every split.

Hailey Wurzbach and Karis Brown rounded out the scorers for Biola. Wurzbach crossed the finish line at 22:09.26 in 38th place. Clocking in a time of 22:34.68, Brown grabbed 66th place.

Henning and his teams are ready for the upcoming challenge of nationals. "We are looking forward to another two weeks of training and preparing for Sacramento."

The men's and women's teams each qualified for the NCAA DII Cross Country National Championships set for Saturday, November 23 in Sacramento, California.