SANTA BARBARA, Calif. --- Biola headed to Santa Barbara for the Westmont Indoor Qualifier for their first official meet of the season. The Eagles opened up their 2024 season with five event wins spread throughout the men and women. 

The first event that BU participated in was the Women's 60 meter hurdles where Hannah Hanson and Priscilla Jones placed in the top five. Hanson's 9.27 time was .14 faster than her teammate, giving her a bronze finish while Jones followed in fourth.

Donovan Tommy got things started on the men's side for the Eagles where he placed second in the 60 meter event. 6.91 was the time that would put Tommy on the podium. Fellow Eagle, Jayden Bennett ran a 7.04 time which qualified for a second place finish in the second heat and tenth overall. 

Jones found herself at the top of the podium in the women's 60 meter race. She finished with a 7.83 time and outran the second place finisher by .02. Both Kelaiah Moore and Audrey Mousa finished at 8.11 giving them sixth and seventh place finishes in the first heat. 

Jack Sapyta ran a 1:26.00 time in the men's 600 meter race which put him in third place in the second heat. His time put him in the top ten overall for that race. On the women's side of the 600 meter, Jaden Murray and Ariana Quintana worked their way onto the podium. Murray's 1:36.69 time was good enough for the event crown, beating second place by just under one second. Quintana came in just eight seconds behind her teammate on her way to a bronze finish. 

Katie Thompson placed first in the women's long jump where she beat out second place by less than a tenth of a meter. Thompson jumped 4.95 meters which qualified her for her first podium finish of the day. 

Thompson made her second appearance on the podium, this time in the women's triple jump. She placed second with a 10.81 meter jump. Her teammate, Nina Navarette came out on top in the triple jump with a 10.94 meter first place finish. 

Moore, Mousa, Quintana and Maria Vidal Poy worked together in the women's 4x400 relay to reel in a third place finish. Quintana finished out the race at 4:08.06 and overcame Westmont to give the Eagles another podium finish. 

Biola took the event crown in the women's pole vault as Navarette and Reanna Maroon tied for first place at the 3.50 meter mark. Caleb Pook picked up a fourth place finish in the men's pole vault with a 4.35 meter mark. 

Stefan Jungmichel closed out the day for Biola with a first place title in the Heptathlon. He began with a 7.34 finish in the 60 meter race. Jungmichel then moved over to the field where he recorded a 6.63 meter long jump, 13.36 meter shot put, and a 1.90 meter high jump. In the 60 meter hurdles, Jungmichel beat out second place by 1.76 seconds with a 8.63 finish. He beat out his two opponents in all seven of the heptathlon events. "Stefan set a new school record in the men's heptathlon. A great start to his outdoor season and run at getting back to nationals at the end of May" said Head Coach, Sean Henning. 

When talking about Saturday's competition, Coach Henning said "All in all, I think we had a lot of really solid marks, across-the-board. I think some people were a little nervous as this is the first competition of the year, but I'm encouraged, and I think we are only heading in the right direction." 

The Eagles look to carry on their strong start next Friday, Feb. 16 at the Golden Eagle Invitational.