After placing fourth overall at last weekend’s The Master’s College Mustang Invitational Kellian Hunt has been awarded Biola’s first NAIA Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week honor.

The senior paced Biola to a third-place team finish and helped the Eagles to the best finish among non-NAIA schools. She ran a 17:30 to pace Biola and finish second among NAIA runners in the 226-runner field.

“Kellian is in phenomenal shape right now and has been having a turnaround season from last year,” said Head Coach Sean Henning. “She’s very driven to get back to the All-American level she has been at and has been very committed so far this year.”

In the two events to this point of the season Hunt has posted two times that are better than any time she ran in the 2014 season. She has a pair of fourth-place finishes with the 17:30 and an 18:10.

Hunt has finished back-to-back with teammate Anika Gasner in both races as the two have committed to running as a pack as Biola’s top-2 runners.

“It’s cool to see her reap the benefits of all her hard work,” said Henning. “Her and Anika have done a great job working together as a 1-2 punch. They help each other so much by being able to race together for the entire race.”

Hunt, Gasner and the rest of the Eagles are back in action next week at the CSU San Bernardino Coyote Invitational.

The national runner of the week awards are given each week by the NAIA. The award-winners are nominated by their institution’s Sports Information Director and the winner is selected by a committee of voting Sports Information Directors from across the nation.