WILLIAM ADAMS
Staff Writer
The Pepperdine cross country teams finished their seasons at the NCAA West Regional Championships in Eugene, Ore., this weekend as the men Waves finished the race 23rd overall, and the women’s team finished 27th. Senior Chris Ogle led the men’s pack finishing the 10K race with the second fastest time in school history. Junior Brieanna Carroll led the women’s team, shattering her own personal record and the Pepperdine school record in the women’s 6K race.
The men’s team concluded its season at the Springfield Country Club Saturday, looking to make great strides toward the future. While the team’s high hopes were not fulfilled, there is now a lot more knowledge about the skill of the team and what the future may hold. Following Ogle’s 32:34 finish, which earned him 96th place, were Conrad Wozniak (34:15) Seth Allison (35:31) Henri Floris (35:39), David Williams (35:44), Eric Magana (36:53), and Isaiah White (37:17) all of whom are freshmen. The strong efforts put in by these runners show great promise for the future of cross country at Pepperdine.
“I think we struggled a bit due to inexperience and the intimidation that comes with facing some of the best teams in the country,” Williams said. “I think that we could have run better though we are mostly freshman. A lot of us didn’t run good races; most of us had a hard time.”
Pepperdine’s women also took part in the event hosted by the University of Oregon. The teams 27th place finish was a giant step forward for the Waves.
“We were against the top teams in the nation,” freshman Chelsea Wishard said. “But everyone improved a lot from the beginning of the year; it was really good.”
Junior Brieanna Carroll set a personal record, also breaking the school record, with a time of 22:18 in the six-kilometer race. Her 94th place finish led the team, while junior Courtney Young (23:06) and Chelsea Wishard (23:18) took 149th and 159th, respectively. The team also has great promise for the future as no senior was in the grouping of top finishers.
“We have a really young team,” Wishard said. “I think we will do really good next year and keep on improving”
The future looks bright for the Waves as Head Coach Robert Radnoti has these runners headed in the right direction. With the high number of underclassmen performing so well, the next few years should be very exciting for the team.
“I think we’ll be good in a few years, the top three in the WCC next year,” Floris said. “We look for a much better showing at the NCAA regionals next year; definitely top fifteen.”
Both teams must now wait for next season to come. With so many young runners who are so tremendously skilled, the future of Pepperdine Cross Country may soon be here.
“We are going to get better and better.” Radnoti said. “We have two incredible recruiting classes filled with runner who are strong nationally. In a year or two we will compete with Loyola and by year three or four we will compete with Portland. It is our mission to take them down.”
In March the Waves will host the second annual West Coast Track Challenge. “It was great last year,” Radnoti added. “It will be even better this year.”
11-15-2007
