By Hailey Amato
Staff Writer
Pepperdine showed up not just to run, but to race on Friday at the Titan Invitational. With a familiar course and familiar competition, Waves cross country teams proved that they are reaching their peak just in time for the West Coast Conference.
The competition, held at Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Brea was hosted by Cal State Fullerton. Pepperdine women came out third in the eight-team field, while the men’s team finished fourth of seven teams. University of California Los Angeles won on the women’s side with a score of 16, just one point over a perfect score.
“It’s a fast course,” junior Christine Carter said. “We were planning on fast times, but we had to deal with the conditions. Because of the rain, there was a little obstacle course action going on, but we need to be able to race in any condition.”
A cloudy sky prevailed over the races, with rain causing the course to be wet and dangerous. The runners could avoid the potentially slippery concrete in many parts of the course, but the tradeoff was running on the grass and getting slower times.
Once again No. 1 runner Carter paced the women over the five-kilometer course. She placed 16th with a time of 19:31.
Her teammates followed closely on her heels with junior Jennifer Crossland placing 21st at 19:34, freshmen Shanon Watson in 22nd at 19:36, freshmen Lauren Tyree in 29th at 19:54 and sophomore Lauren Gray at 31st at 19:59.
Watson was Head Coach Dick Kampmann’s “Runner of the Meet” for breaking the 20- minute barrier for the first time in her career. All of the top five Waves broke 20 minutes, and in a tremendous team effort their split was just 28 seconds.
Despite the women’s solid performance, there are still things to fix.
“We don’t have a fast fox, someone who will consistently finish in the top 10,” Kampmann said. “They are running with times that are very close together, but the girls need someone to break free of the pack.”
The men were led with a spectacular race from junior Louis Rich. Rich finished fourth individually clocked a time of 26:03 over the eight-kilometer course.
“He had a fabulous run,” Kampmann said. “One of the fastest times ever for a Pepperdine runner. He ran like an elite runner.”
Rich improved his time on the course by 87 seconds.
“I was really satisfied with my race,” Rich said. “It was a breakthrough race for me. I just want to see the whole team breakthrough at the same time.”
Freshmen Chad Trammell came in 20th at 27:05 and was followed by senior Dave Cameron in 33rd at 27:22, freshmen Drew Repp in 24th at 27:32, and junior Kevin Nerison in 25th at 27:36.
“The back of our pack all came together,” Rich said. “For the first time, they all had a good race on the same day. That’s what we need. We’re ready for the big upset. We didn’t step up in pre-season, but we’ll end strong.”
Cal State San Marcos led the field.
Pepperdine’s fourth place showing raised his expectations of the men, Kampmann said.
“Expectations, they look brighter now,” Kampmann said. “After Crystal Springs and placing sixth I wasn’t really sure how we’d climb. But now we’re back in the game.” “Pepperdine traditionally performs unexpectedly well at conference,” he continued. “It makes teams running ahead of us think. The team I bring to conference is never the same team as they’ve seen all year. You have to be ready when it’s important.”
It’s important now. Heading into the West Coast Conference Championship this weekend, confidence levels are high. The women’s goal is to be a contender for second place. They may have to battle it out with Portland, Santa Clara and University of San Diego, all of whom have been tough competition throughout the season.
“Everyone needs to run their best, to run strong,” Crossland said. “It’s all about placement, not times. You need to catch that girl in front of you in another school’s colors.”
The men are hoping for a top three finish. Their biggest nemesis is USD, Rich says. USD beat Pepperdine earlier this season on Malibu soil in the Wave’s only home meet of the season.
“San Diego – year in and year out we’re right on them,” Rich said. “We never have our whole team step up at the same time. If we could take San Diego, that’s our biggest goal. Coach Kampmann, he’d die for this.”
Pepperdine is familiar with the Crystal Springs course from running there a week ago.
“It’s great that we ran at the Bronco Invite which is on the conference course,” Crossland said. “That course has a special kind of feel. To practice on the conference course before conference gives us more confidence. It gives us a base point to work from.”
Tyree agrees.
“We’re feeling really confident,” she said. “We know what it’s like, what the difficult parts are, where we can improve, how we can race better.”
The Waves travel to Belmont Saturday for the WCC Championships. This is the moment they’ve been waiting for, according to Kampmann.
“We’ve raced to condition,” Kampmann said. “We’ve raced to learn and to have fun. What’s been missing is the electricity. On Friday at 9:00 and 9:45 the electricity will be radiating. This is the meet we judge our entire season on. We’re ready.”
October 31, 2002