GARRETT WAIT
Sports Editor
The men’s cross country team is looking to rebuild with youth after losing three seniors from the past season’s team that finished eighth at the West Coast Conference Championships. And that’s just fine with Head Coach Dick Kampmann.
Kampmann was disappointed by last year’s team’s placement at the championships in Belmont, Calif. That team was struck by injury problems as well as a lack of team leadership that Kampmann says has been rectified already this season.
“The team is going to be 100 percent better than it was a year ago,” Kampmann said. “Athletically, citizenship-wise, these guys are just a good group. They are a true team, not just one or two individuals.”
One of the team’s key returnees, senior Chad Trammell, was injured last season. Trammell was slated to be the team’s number-one runner last year and his injury became a major turning point.
“We are not a team without Chad,” Kampmann said. “When you take the heart of your team, you’re going to give up a lot of points.”
Kampmann said he has always put an emphasis on education as well as winning, a reason why some of his teams lose athletes more than other Pepperdine sports. One such loss was Brian Washburn, who transferred to California State University, Fullerton. Kampmann said the decision was mutual.
“Brian will be sorely missed,” Kampmann said. “He would have been the one to fill in after Chad graduated. We just didn’t have the major for him so we both decided he’d be better off somewhere else. I want to win and I want my runners to stay with the program, but I also want them to get an education.”
This team has experienced a lot of turnover, but Kampmann says that may be good because of the team’s performance last season. Now, they can look toward the future and begin to develop a winner on the trails.
“They have taken an oath that we are going to show the rest of the conference that we are not a lower- division team,” Kampmann said. “We’ll probably be pretty impressive as the season rolls along. We’ll probably improve our stature in the conference.”
Kampmann and assistant coach Roman Chavez devised a summer workout program for the team that has led to the Pepperdine runners being more ready than usual for the upcoming season. Kampmann says the team has already shown improvement and is looking forward to showing the conference they are serious competitiors.
The team’s success hinges on the ability of Trammell to come back from his injury and the other returning runners to step back into the roles they should have occupied last season. Kampmann said the team has the ability to break through.
“They’re going to be successful because Chad will be well,” Kampmann said. “Our two, three, four, five and six runners are going to be very close together. Our number-two guy will be a notch above our number two a year ago.”
The team has been striving to be its best and the season should be much better than before, according to Kampmann. The key has been the way the team has been working together this year.
“They’re working hard, working good and beginning to bond,” Kampmann said. “They like each other and like what they’re doing. They believe in the program and we’re beginning to make them think team-wise.”
The Waves start running Saturday at the Cal State Fullerton Invitational.
08-29-2005