Pepperdine Men’s Cross Country takes off on the UC Riverside Invitational starting line Sept. 19. The team placed second overall in the meet, according to Finished Results. Photos courtesy of Rory Christiansen
Pepperdine Cross Country traveled to University of California, Riverside (UCR) to compete in the annual UC Riverside Invitational on Sept. 19. The women’s and men’s teams are both coming off their first place overall wins at the Waves Invitational on Sept. 4.
The runners faced high-level competition from over 25 schools traveling from all over the west, including University of California, Irvine, Grand Canyon University, University of California, Davis and Southern Utah University.
The women’s 6K race started at 7:15 a.m, followed by the men’s 8K at 7:50 a.m. Both races took place on the UCR Agricultural Operations Course, including two major laps around farm roads and orchards with a roughly 100-foot elevation gain.
Senior Lizzy Crawford held it down for the women’s division, cruising in at 20:37.0 and taking the 10th place spot. Freshman Mia Hodgson also landed in the top 60 with a time of 21:12.4, according to Finished Results.
Senior Lizzy Crawford runs at the UC Riverside Invitational on Sept. 19. Crawford came in 10th place out of 219 runners, according to Finished Results.
The women’s lineup included seniors Hannah Miller, Jessica Gaurdino and Lacey Reedy, junior Grace Simpson and Riley Burgess and freshmen Clara Michael, Presley Pate and Mackenzie Buxton.
Even through narrow stretches and bumper-to-bumper traffic, the women’s team had an overall average runner time of 21:31. This placed the team in 16th place out of 30 teams, according to Finished Results.
Senior Dominic Silhol cruised into a new record for the men’s program, coming in sixth place with a new school record time of 23:38.8. This smashed his last school record of 23:59.9 that took place at the UC Riverside Invitational in 2025, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Senior Dominic Silhol prepares for his race with the men’s team before setting the Pepperdine 8k school record. Silhol placed 6th overall, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Junior Elijah Gentry came in just a few places behind Silhol in 10th place with a time of 23:52.8, and junior Gordy Nilsen also landed in the top 20 with a time of 24:05.1. Other runners included junior Rowan Nilsen and freshmen Christian Weber, Max Tsolakis and Andrew DeYoung.
“These guys are like family,” DeYoung said. “I know they are going to give their all for me on the course and they know that I’ll do the same. One of our leaders said that this is where preparation meets opportunity and that’s how it is going into every race.”
When that opportunity came, the average runner time for the men’s team was 24:08. This placed the men’s team in second overall out of 25 schools.
Freshman Andrew DeYoung races at the UC Riverside Invitational on Sept. 19. DeYoung finished with a time of 25:24.7, according to Finished Results.
The Waves will next race into the Master’s Invitational in Santa Clarita on Oct. 3. Looking at the remainder of the season, Pepperdine will compete in the West Coast Conference Championships on Oct. 30.
“Look out for us,” DeYoung said. “We’re as strong as we’ve ever been.”
This story was copy edited by Olivia Schlossin.
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