After rough start to season, cross country teams grab second-place finish at San Diego Invitational.
SHUHEI MATSUO
Assistant Sports Editor
The Pepperdine cross country teams traveled to San Diego on Saturday and captured second place at the University of San Diego Invitational.
Both the men’s and women’s teams placed three runners in the Top 10.
Senior Kyla Maher led the women’s team with a third-place finish while sophomore Tim Hatters placed sixth to lead the men. Both of the Pepperdine teams had three runners in the Top 10.
While Maher completed the six-kilometer women’s race in a time of 24:16, sophomore Brieanna Carroll finished sixth with a 24:35 and freshman Jessica Heckman followed with a time of 24:48 to finish eighth.
Point Loma Nazarene’s Julie-Anne Bailey and Samantha From finished first and second, respectively, and led the team to capture the five-team championship with 39 points.
The Waves were merely two points short of the title and were followed by Loyola Marymount’s 67, San Diego’s 88 and San Diego Christian College’s 131.
In the eight-kilometer men’s race, Hatters turned in a time of 28:17 and was followed by teammates Chris Gaudreau (28:18) and Sam Hudson (28:27). Gaudreau and Hudson completed the meet seventh and eighth, respectively.
Cross-town rival Loyola Marymount took over the men’s title with 34 points, followed by Pepperdine’s 45 and Point Loma Nazarene’s 60.
Even though host USD’s Chris Jacobs captured the individual title with a time of 27:19, the Toreros finished in last place as a team with 90 points.
The Waves had disappointing results at the season-opening Cal State Fullerton Invitational the week before, but they now feel they are coming together as a team.
Despite the quick improvement, junior runner Amy Rogg did not seem surprised about Saturday’s accomplishment.
“We have a lot of potential this year,” Rogg said. “We have a lot of freshmen that are good, and a lot of the runners are coming back from overseas.”
Since there are many freshmen and returning runners from overseas this year, perhaps all they need is some time to get adjusted to the new season.
The Waves will host the first annual Kampmann Classic Race and Reception on Saturday at Alumni Park starting at 9 a.m. The race is named after longtime Pepperdine Head Coach Dick Kampmann, who retired this past summer after coaching for 17 years.
09-14-2006
