ZACH ENGLUND
Sports Assistant
In only its second year of existence at Pepperdine, the women’s track team is still establishing itself as a reputable franchise, one small step at a time. But on Saturday, one giant leap was made, as the team had their first home meet, the West Coast Track Challenge.
“It was definitely a rush,” said Maria Llacuna, freshman sprinter/hurdler for the Waves. “We finally got to stand out to other schools, so it was really exciting.”
The 4x100M relay team of Llacuna, Chelsey York and Tiara Dole had one of the best performances on the day, as all three freshmen turned in first-place finishes with a collective time of :51.22.
York and Dole, along with Katie Stjernholm, came up big again in the 100M dash, as they took the top three spots in the event. York led the way with a time of :13.12, followed closely by Stjernholm at :13.14, then Dole at :13.47.
A young group with mostly freshmen, the Waves turned out an impressive performance, finishing second overall out of five teams competing in the event. Even as a veteran on the youthful squad, junior sprinter Briana Sheppel said even she was a bit anxious for this one.
“We were all so nervous, so we didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “We wanted to represent Pepperdine to the best of our abilities, and I think we definitely made a name for us by finishing second. We just have to keep getting better, and we’ve already started in a good spot.”
Another bright spot on the day was that many students came to support the girls on the historic event, something that Sheppel says the team really appreciates.
“It was really exciting because a lot of people came out to watch,” she said. “I was surprised to see how many were up on the hill because there are no bleachers, so that was really great.”
The team is hoping that if they continue to perform at a high level, they’ll receive more recognition from Pepperdine, which means scholarship money for recruiting, amongst other things. According to Llacuna, Head Coach Robert Radnoti has been doing all he can to get the school’s attention for the future, while also keeping his players upbeat about the here and now.
“He hasn’t stopped moving since he got here,” she said. “He’s pushing real hard for the school to get more involved. You can just see the excitement in his face all the time. He wouldn’t stop cheering us on, making sure he said something to everyone after the race. He’s just really on top of it.”
Pepperdine return’s to the track on Saturday when the team competes at the UCLA Invitational in Los Angeles.
03-01-2007