Pepperdine Women’s Cross Country poses together at Central Park on Oct. 3 in Santa Clarita, Calif. The women’s team placed third out of 22 teams, according to runsignup.com. Photos courtesy of Lauren Floris
Pepperdine Cross Country traveled to Santa Clarita, Calif. on Oct. 3 to compete in The Master’s Invitational, hosted by The Master’s University. The invitational completed both the men’s and women’s team’s second to last regular season meet.
Both the men’s 8K and women’s 6K races took place at Santa Clarita’s Central Park. The men’s race started at 8 a.m, followed by the women’s race at 8:45 a.m., according to The Master’s University Athletics.
Both teams were missing key starting players, allowing other players to step up and compete.
Facing schools like University of Southern California (USC) and Azuza Pacific University, the women’s team took third place out of 21 teams, according to runsignup.com.
Senior Lizzy Crawford held her ground, placing third out of 189 runners with a time of 21:38.3. Four other runners placed in the top 50, including senior Hannah Miller (23:11.7), junior Riley Burgess (23:40.3) and freshmen Mia Hodgson (22:27.6) and Clara Michael (22:59.3), according to runsignup.com.
Senior Lizzy Crawford races through Central Park at the Master’s Invitational in Santa Clarita, Calif. She placed third overall out of 189 runners, according to runsignup.com.
All seven of the men’s team starters took a backseat for the meet. Both the men’s and women’s team’s top seven will compete in one final regular season meet at the Bronco Invitational Oct. 17, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Freshman Noah Harris led the pack for the team, placing 44th with a time of 25.59.3. Freshman Luke Bremmer (26:07.6) placed 53rd and freshman Reed Robinson (26:21.2) followed him in 64th, according to runsignup.com.
“Having them shows how deep our team is,” sophomore Beckett Sullivan said. “Reed, Luke and Noah being where they are at this early on in their freshman year is a testament to how good our training is and how solid our team is.”
Even with team leaders on the bench, the men’s team placed 9th out of 22 teams, according to runsignup.com.
“The top seven are solidified,” Bremmer said. “But this shows that we can compete and join them.”
While the top seven qualifiers attend the Bronco Invitational, the younger group will compete in the Highlander Invitational Oct. 17 at the UCR Agricultural Operations Course, the same course as the UC Riverside Invitational earlier this season, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
“This team is the best it’s ever been,” Sullivan said. “I’m super excited to see what we can do and make a name for ourselves.”
This story was copy edited by Olivia Schlossin.
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Contact Rivers Pope via email: rivers.pope@pepperdine.edu