By Hailey Amato
Staff Writer
As the fires raged in local communities, the sky in Malibu has been filled with dark smoke. This week, Pepperdine sports teams have had to find ways to adjust.
Many programs have been affected negatively by the ash-filled air. Practices have been cancelled and athletes have been left wondering when they will get to play again.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Shannon Mayberry, junior center of the women’s basketball team. “On Monday we were all ready to practice. We’d done our warm-up, but immediately when we walked in the gym we saw it was filled with smoke. The guy’s team was complaining about the heat and instead of practicing we got to watch two hours of film.”
The women’s basketball team’s practice was cancelled Monday, but resumed the following afternoon.
“It was pretty smoky in there,” Event Facility Manager Khanly Saycon said. “I turned on the air to blow it out of the gym, but that basically didn’t work because it was just as bad outside.”
The aquatic teams were also affected by the air quality. Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool was shut down two hours early Monday.
According to Pepperdine lifeguard Joel Dawson, the smoke was so thick at the pool that lifeguards first wore towels around their heads and then surgical masks to keep out the ash.
“We had very few patrons over the afternoon,” Dawson said. “Some people tried to swim but would get out three or four minutes later. They said it was like smoking cigarettes and swimming at the same time.”
Pepperdine women’s swim team did not hold regular practice Monday or Tuesday as a result of the fires.
The men’s water polo program felt the ill-effect as well as they competed Sunday under abnormally dark skies. In their 12-7 win over University of California Santa Barbara, some members of the team said they could feel the difference in the air.
“It was hard to breathe,” senior driver John Ashby said. “Usually in the first quarter you have plenty of energy, but a couple times up and down the pool, and we could feel it. It was like I couldn’t get a full breath.”
The women’s tennis team and the women’s soccer team both opted to take Monday and Tuesday off due to health concerns raised from all the ash in the air.
Senior forward Lacey Ubaldi of the women’s soccer team explained the reasoning behind the cancellation of practice.
“It’s the air quality,” Ubaldi said. “The coaches have to watch how much smoke we’re breathing in. A lot of girls on my team have exercise-induced asthma and this just about triples it. If this continues it could affect our game next week.”
On the other hand, women’s tennis head coach, Gualberto Escudero, welcomed the two-day break for his players.
“They can stand the rest,” Escudero said. “They just got back from a tournament so it didn’t come at an unwelcome time. Hopefully the offshore winds will blow in tomorrow and we’ll be able to resume practice with a clean slate.”
In the meantime, the women’s tennis team is focusing on weight training and conditioning and trying not to let the distractions take away from much needed workouts.
All other teams report no change in practice or game schedules due to implications of the local fires.
October 30, 2003