Having already qualified six varsity teams for the National Championships in 2008-09, the Eagles now rank #7 in the NAIA out of 173 participating schools. Biola has earned 404.75 points thus far, and the seventh place position in the Learfield Sports Directors Cup Standings is believed to be the highest achieved this late in the season.

The Eagles got off to a strong start in the fall, thanks to a third-place finish at the Volleyball National Championships. The Eagles, 31-4 on the season, reached the National Semifinals for the second consecutive year before falling to Golden State Athletic Conference rival Concordia. Additional points were garnered during the fall by the women’s cross-country team, which finished eighth at Nationals.

Four Biola teams enjoyed success during the winter months, led by the women’s eighth place performance at the Indoor Track and Field Nationals. Key to the team’s strong showing was sophomore Natasha Miller’s first-place finish in the pentathlon and the distance medley relay team’s second-place finish. Men and women’s basketball also reached the National Championships; the women’s first round victory over Trevecca Nazarene was their first-ever win at the NAIA Nationals. Rounding out the winter season was the effort of Biola’s swim team, which broke six school records while participating at Nationals. The men’s team took ninth place while the women finished 11th.

Illustrating its depth and excellence, the Golden State Athletic Conference placed five teams in the top ten of the Director’s Cup Standings through the fall and winter seasons. Biola joined Azusa Pacific (1), Concordia (3), Fresno Pacific (4) and California Baptist (10) in GSAC schools placing in the top 10 out of the 173 competing institutions.

The Eagles look to add to their Director Cup totals this spring, as baseball and track and field have the opportunity to earn points at their National Championships.

The Director Cup program’s philosophy is, “A program that honors institutions maintaining a broad-based program, achieving success in many sports, both men’s and women’s, in which all sports that the NCAA or NAIA offers a championship, along with Division I-A football, and all student-athletes that compete in those sports, are treated equally,” according to the Learfield Sports Directors Cup website.

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