TAYLOR BIRD
Sports Assistant
Junior Courtney Young and freshmen Amanda Ajdari and David Williams put their names in the record books Saturday as the Pepperdine men’s and women’s track teams took part in the USC Trojan Invitational in Los Angeles.
Young clocked in at 10:21.15 in the 3000 meters, surpassing her personal best and the previous school record by six seconds, to place 11th of 23.
“She continues every time she runs to break school records,” said Head Coach Robert Radnoti. “So that’s very exciting for her.”
Young said she was “very happy” with her finish and is looking forward to finishing the season strong.
“Right now I’m just trying to finish this season out, training hard, and remaining positive,” she said.
In the same event, freshman Chelsea Wishard finished at 10:28.23 and junior Brieanna Carroll notched a time of 10:36.60 to take 16th and 17th place, respectively.
Ajdari’s 12.46 finish in the 100-meter dash set a school record and earned her a tie for 22nd place. The other lady Waves who participated in the 100 meters were freshman Brittany Clark with a time of 13.16, junior Hilary Field (14.44) and freshman Annie Schad (15.84).
Williams broke a first-year Pepperdine men’s record with his time of 4:04.90 in the 1500 meters for 22nd place. Freshman Eric Magana was not far behind, placing 27th with a 4:08.72 showing, followed by freshman Isaiah White at 4:14.72 (34th).
“It was the first time I ran the 1600, and it’s also my personal best, so it was a good race for me,” Williams said.
Other notable men’s performances included freshmen Conrad Wozniak, who finished fifth in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8.52.33, and Eric Magana, who clocked in at 1:58.15 in the 800 meters to take 11th place.
Radnoti said he has been very satisfied with his team’s performance this season and is looking forward to adding some new recruits to the roster.
“All in all, things are looking really well for our mostly freshman team,” Radnoti said. “We’re in the midst of working on all our recruits, which is exciting. We’ve got a good group that’s going to be joining our existing team, and we’re just going to continue to grow and get better and better.”
On April 5, the Waves will travel to Pomona, Calif., for the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational.
03-28-2008