In the women’s race against Cal State Bakersfield sophomore Lauren Lodge led her team to the finish line with a time of 19:14 17 seconds faster than any other female competitors.
The Wave’s clinched three of the top five spots. Lodge was followed by Cal State Bakersfield’s Arianna Celis and Pepperdine sophomores Ana Prim and Aneasha Lawrence crossed the finish line third and fifth respectively.
Head coach Robert Radnoti was impressed with how well the women ran.
“A couple people on the women’s side really ran outstanding races Radnoti said. Of course [Lodge] did when you’re expecting her to do that but Ana Prim and Aneasha Lawrence our No. 2 and 3 runners just did outstanding.”
Interestingly despite being a returning sophomore. Prim was in her first race as a Wave due to injury during the 2008-2009 season.
Overall the women won the race 38 to 21.
The men competed against both alumni and unattached competitors and proved themselves in their season debut.
Junior and captain Conrad Wozniak senior Garrett Reim junior Seth Allison sophomore Kenny Smith and freshman Wesley Blundell swept the top five spots.
Conrad finished with a time of 15:56 only one second faster than Smith but 10 seconds faster than the rest of the field.
Radnoti was especially impressed with the freshman’s performance.
“Wes one of our freshmen was a super bright spot for us today Radnoti said. It was great to see him running strong and keeping up with our top four.”
Wozniak like Radnoti was pleased with the team’s performance.
“It was a good team effort and it felt great to shake the rust off and get this team moving fast again Wozniak told Pepperdine sports.
The Waves’ next race is the UC Irvine Invitational on Sept. 12 at 8:30 a.m.