IRVINE, Calif. --- Biola cross country made the short trip over to Great Park in Irvine on Friday, beginning its season at the Irvine Invitational. The Eagles eased their way into the new year, focusing on the layout and pace of the course to help prepare for the PacWest Championships, which is set for the same course in October.

"It was a hot one, and we've had a long week with a lot of work put in," commented Head Coach Sean Henning. "The goal was to learn the course and get in a good threshold effort. The challenge was maintaining that goal effort despite the heat. I thought we did well for the most part."

The BU women took to the course with six other PacWest schools, including the hosting Concordia Golden Eagles. Biola claimed fourth place on the day in a field of nine teams, finishing with 106 points. NCAA DI UC Irvine led the group with a first place showing at 20 points.

On the men's side, Biola grabbed eighth place with 10 total teams competing. Once again, six PacWest teams participated and it was Azusa Pacific to grab the victory on Friday. The main pack of BU runners stuck together to finish just after 26 minutes in the 8k race. Biola placed six-straight runners from 36-41st place.

"I was proud of the effort and look forward to more work over the next couple of months to get to where we want to go," added Henning. "To God be the glory in all that we do, no matter what we need to remember to honor His name through excellence in what we are pursuing. Workouts, races, conversations with other competitors, it doesn't matter. Being salt and light on the earth in how we represent ourselves through the sport is important."

The Eagles will be back in action next Friday, hosting the Biola Invitational at Ted Craig Regional Park with the men's race at 8:45 am and the women's race at 9:30 am.