The Pepperdine men and women’s cross country teams finished up their season at the NCAA West Regional Championships last Saturday at the Springfield Country Club in Springfield Ore.
In the women’s 6K run sophomore Lauren Lodge was the first Wave runner to cross the finish line with a time of 23:11.09. She placed 116th out of 184 runners. This was her first 6K run because the women’s team usually runs the 5K distance during the regular season.
Sophomores Elizabeth Coe and Hannah DeWalt finished in second and third respectively with times of 24:08.07 and 24:35.06 for 155th and 171st place finishes.
Senior Liz Lyons finished her Pepperdine cross country career as the Waves fourth runner. Her time of 24:41.68 gave her a 173rd place finish. Overall Pepperdine finished in 25th place with a total of 742 points. This was behind conference rivals St. Mary’s who finished with 713 points and ahead of San Diego’s 741 points.
The Washington Huskies clinched the first-place medal led by Kendra Schaaf who won the race overall. This regional included some of the top teams in the nation including the UCLA Bruins Oregon Ducks and the Arizona Razorbacks.
Based on the team’s performance this season the future looks bright for next year. The women’s teams had at least a 10th place finish in every regular season meet including the WCC Conference Championships. Individuals on the team also received numerous awards throughout the season: Junior Chelsea Wishard won the CSU Bakersfield Invitational on Sept. 26 and came in third place at the WCC Conference Championships Oct. 31. Lauren Lodge won the Malibu Oceanside Open the Wave’s first meet on Sept. 1 and finished in second at the CSU Bakersfield Invitational.
On the men’s side sophomore Kenny Smith finished first for the Waves with a time of 33:28.19 in the 10K run for a 115th place finish out of 182 runners. Junior Seth Allison finished close behind with his time of 34:08.19. He finished in 138th place.
Freshman Wes Blundell crossed the finish line with a time of 34:39 and a 158th place finish. Freshman Sean King came in 161st and a time of 34:43.76.
The first place spot was highly contested between Stanford’s Chris Derrick and teammate Elliot Heath. Derrick barely edged out Heath’s time of 30:38.96 with his time of with a time of 30:38.84. These placements helped lead the Stanford Cardinals to win the team competition with WCC rival Portland finishing in second.
Pepperdine junior Conrad Wozniak felt that the Regionals are a great stepping stone. “The West Regional was cold and rainy and was good experience for everyone on the team especially the newer younger members of the team Wozniak said. It was a good way to compare ourselves with the best in the country.”
Smith felt the season was successful overall.
“Overall I am pleased with the season Smith said. We did have a bit of a weak finish to our season. I think we were a better team than what we showed at conference but we had a solid top five group this year who worked hard and pushed each other which made it a good season. Six of our top seven are returning so I’m excited to see what we can do next year.”
The teams have a positive outlook on what the future has in store for next season.
“This season we had many guys step up and fill roles of scorers for the team this season Wozniak said. The freshmen played an outstanding part this season and were key in the development of our team. Kenny Smith especially played an important role in the team’s development as his contributions to the team were outstanding”
Both teams will continue to train vigorously throughout the rest of the fall and winter months to prepare for track season coming in the spring of 2010.
