SHUHEI MATSUO
Sports Assistant
At the beginning of the 2005-06 school year, Pepperdine added women’s track to remain in compliance with Title IX.
With the start of the women’s track team, members and coaches are working on finishing the season, but it is questionable whether the team will exist next year.
Dr. John Watson, director of Athletics, said it is hard to get a new athletic program off the ground, especially without any scholarships available.
“So the question becomes, is there a significant interest in our student body to participate in the women’s track team or not?” Watson said. “And I hope that there will be, and we are waiting to see. We will get through this year, and we’ll find out what happens next year.”
One of the team’s runners used an analogy to describe the situation.
“It’s kind of like making water flow up hill at the moment, but eventually we’ll come to the other side of the hill,” freshman mid-distance runner Courtney Smith said.
She also said the team will improve next year if it can recruit more runners.
The team was supposed to participate in two meets over the past two weeks, but it did not because of some dropouts and injuries, Watson said.
Assistant coach Robert Radnoti echoed the words of Watson, saying that injuries and sickness contributed most to the team’s inability to compete.
He did not, however, mention the runners who have left the team.
“I’d just like to focus on going forward,” he said.
Radnoti also said the runners are getting ready for some big performances and some more school records in the upcoming meets, even though the team barely has a little over the minimum runners for a NCAA meet, which is 14.
“We are close, but we got three meets coming up and we are going to make them,” Radnoti said.
The Waves are running in Saturday’s Azusa Pacific Invitational, Wednesday’s Cal State Twilight and the Long Beach Invitational, which will be held April 14.
“Our goals are to set PR (Personal Records) and some more school records,” Radnoti said. “Also, we want to make sure that continues to improve, and see the nice progression for the season.”
When he found out that the team is running for the next three meets, Watson seemed excited.
“That’s great,” he said. “I would love to see a strong track team.”
04-06-2006
