What could be better than a tsunami? A tidal wave that the Pepperdine cross-country gave to the rest of the competition Sept. 26 at the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunner Invitational. The women’s team won the four-team competition in the 5K run with 21 points against Westmont Cal State Bakersfield and Fresno State.
Junior Chelsea Wishard was the first Wave to cross the finish line with a time of 17:45. This time also gave her a first-place finish against the field of Division 1 and non-D1 runners.
Wishard said she was happy with her entire team’s performance.
“I thought the meet went really well Wishard said. A lot of the girls ran their fastest times yet which is great for this early in the season.”
Sophomore Lauren Lodge finished right behind Wishard with a time of 17:54.30 and sophomore Elizabeth Coe was the third Wave to finish. Her time of 18:24.70 gave her a fourth-place overall finish. Sophomores Aneasha Lawrence and Hannah DeWalt also contributed to the Waves success and finished in fifth and ninth place respectively.
In the men’s 8K freshman Wesley Blundell was the first Pepperdine runner to finish clinching the third overall spot.
Blundell said the team ran hard despite a tough week of workouts.
“We had a tough week of practice going into the meet so our legs weren’t the freshest Blundell said. But this team doesn’t make any excuses for itself so we poured our guts out and came away with the win.”
Sophomore Kenny Smith finished the day as the second Wave to cross the line with a time of 25:24.10 and a fourth overall finish.
Senior Seth Allison the third wave to cross the line notched a time of 25:26.30. Junior Conrad Wozniak fell from his usual first-place finish for the second week in a row and came in as the fourth Pepperdine runner with a time of 25:46.60.
Wozniak was complimentary of how the men’s team ran.
“I think the guys ran great today Wozniak said. The top four [guys] ran in a pack for about three and a half miles and we were keeping each other accountable for the fast pace. Both our team’s scores and Westmont’s were tied at 18 through four runners and Jordan [Wozniak] outkicked their fifth runner to bring us the meet victory.”
Head Coach Robert Radnoti was also excited about the results.
“Our team ran well at Bakersfield and I am very proud of how they have come together to represent Pepperdine Radnoti said. We are looking forward to three weeks of intense training before our final tune-up before WCC Conference Championships on Halloween Day.”
The team now has three weeks to prepare for its next competition at the Bronco Invitational on Oct. 17 hosted by Santa Clara.
The Waves have good reason to be confident going into the next meet Wozniak said.
“Although [Cal State Bakersfield] was a small meet it was a confidence builder and it was good practice to start getting ready for our championship season as coach Radnoti calls it Wozniak said. It was a flat fast course and although it was probably a little bit short it was a great meet to get under our belts before the big ones start rolling in.”
