Fullerton, Calif.---It was a fun day for the Biola Cross Country teams who wrapped up the annual Biola Invitational at Ted Craig Regional Park.

Both teams were successful, the men were the Invite's Team Champions and the women came in second overall.

Biola's men won the invitational with 28 points and led The Master's, who finished second, by five points. 

"The guys did a good job," stated head coach Sean Henning. "The goal for today was to run a smart controlled first three miles and then push the last two and I think we executed that really well."

The men also dominated the top 10 individual spots. Junior Melt von Molendorff was BU's first leg across the finish line, placing third overall in the 8k with a personal best time of 24:39.6. Aidan Tomasini was close behind, claiming fourth (24:42.7) and he was followed by Rouxan le Roux (fifth, 24:42.8), Charlie Bailey (sixth, 24:43) and Jerry Baltzer (10th, 24:53.4).

"It was a great race today," exclaimed von Molendorff. "I got first and it was a great performance today. We did pretty well as a team, placing first and I'm looking forward to racing next weekend."

Biola's women snagged 38 points, following The Master's who finished first with 29 points.

"On the ladies side, our goal was to run smart for two miles and really hammer the last mile," Henning stated. "We did that and unfortunately finished second, The Master's did a great job." 

Henning continued, "We moved up significantly in the last mile which was the goal of the day. We still have things to work on but I'm pleased with the effort."

BU had three women finish in the top 10 of the 5k. Bethany Mapes led the pack, finishing third with a personal best time of 17:18.5. Lynette Ruiz finished shortly after, claiming fourth place with a time of 17:27.1 and Aislin Taylor took fifth (17:37.1).

"Today was a great meet," stated Bethany Mapes. "We were doing a work out so the first two miles were more controlled and we got to go hard in the last mile."

Lynette Ruiz elaborated, "It was nice to start out conservative, practice patience and work together and then go all out the last mile."

Hailey Wurzbach just missed the top 10, placing 11th with a mark of 17:47.7.

Next up for the Biola cross country teams is the UC Riverside Invitational which begins at 7:15am on Saturday, September 21.