MARC CHOQUETTE
Staff Writer
With the passing of the cold, crisp fall air goes the passing of the 2005 Pepperdine cross country season. Well, scratch the cold part. Even though it may not seem like it for the 48 percent of Pepperdine students from out of state, Thanksgiving is almost here and guess what that means. That’s right, the NCAA Regional Cross Country Championships, this year at the plush Stanford University Golf Course.
This event was no ordinary one. Pepperdine competed against the some of cross country’s West Coast powerhouses along the fairways and sandtraps. The line-up included teams such as Stanford, Arizona State, Washington, Oregon and UCLA. Stanford took first place in the six-kilometer race while Arizona took the crown for the 10-km race. Pepperdine took 23rd on the men’s side and 28th on the women’s.
In the women’s field, Stanford’s Arianna Lambie took the individual title, with Amy Hastings from Arizona State coming in second and UCLA’s Ashley Caldwell finishing in third.
The men’s top-five finishers were dominated by Arizona, placing at first, second and fourth. Arizona State’s Casey Burchill finished third, and Washington’s Mark Mandi took fifth to round out the top five.
While the top of the standings were taken mostly by the gigantic schools of the Pac 10 conference with endless recruiting ability, Pepperdine had a few noteworthy finishes. Senior Chad Trammel placed 122nd with a time of 33:46 and junior Tarrah Crowley took 135th with a time of 23:17.
This finishes up the year for the Waves. While facing much more established and historic competition may be tough for the team, it certainly provides experience for those on the team. Not to mention, this year Pepperdine took first place finish at its own meet earlier in the season.
11-17-2005
