The Pepperdine men’s and women’s Cross Country teams are looking to keep their success rolling this year and Coach Robert Radnoti and his team have looked to Ukraine for help. On August 23 Radnoti announced that Iryna Vashchuk a member of the Ukrainian National Team as well as an All-American and PAC-10 Champion will be joining the program as an assistant coach.
“I am very excited to welcome Coach Vashchuk to Pepperdine Radnoti said. She brings the kind of enthusiasm that I like in our program…[and] an interesting component to our team because she’s a world-class athlete trained in the Ukrainian system. I want to combine the best of her coaching with what we’ve learned in America.”
Vashchuk’s résumé supports Radnoti’s reason for excitement as the two-time All-American has competed and placed in the top ten in races in countries all over the world including Italy Chile and Russia.
“She has a personal record time of 4:12 in the 1500 meter run which would finish her high in the U.S. Olympic trials Radnoti said. She will play a big role in helping with things like new speed techniques we are implementing this year.”
Vashchuk has high hopes for the future of the program and said she is excited to play a role.
“This job is a great opportunity which will allow me to share my knowledge and experience with serious responsible and dedicated student athletes who possess the talent to compete at the D-1 level Vashchuk said in an interview with Pepperdine Sports.
Though Vashchuk is excited for the future, her presence has already been making an impact on the teams.
One thing that is great about Coach Vashchuk is her ability to relate to the students Radnoti continued. She can really relate to the female athletes and both the men’s and women’s teams really seem to like her a lot.”
She hopes to continue this impact throughout this season and future ones.
“It’s an honor to work with this coaching staff and I hope to have our student athletes running strong at the West Regionals Championship and possibly NCAAs Vashchuk said. I want to help the program establish its name at the national level and attract the attention of future recruits.”
For the upcoming season both the men’s and women’s rosters will see some minor changes with three new additions to the men’s team and two new additions to the women’s.
Because both teams are fairly young cross-country fans will witness an exciting season of newly found experience and growth. One freshman who is expected to have an immediate impact on the team this year is Adrianna Davies who is already running in the top seven for the women’s team Radnoti said.
Top returning runners to be on the lookout for this season are senior Seth Allison and sophomore Wesley Blundell both of whom are running with WCC honors. For the women senior Chelsea Wishard a two-time WCC bronze champion and junior Lauren “Lolo” Lodge will help carry the team.
The first meet for both teams is Wednesday September 1 at Alumni Park. It is a dual meet against San Diego and Cal State Bakersfield. The men run at 6 p.m. and the women at 6:30 p.m.
