Pepperdine Cross Country hosted the 2023 West Conference Conference Championship meet Oct. 28, at Alumni Park. The women’s team ran first and finished in seventh place, while the men’s team followed and finished in sixth.
Senior Johnathan Flint was the No. 1 runner for the men’s team coming in 25th place with a time of 25:49.6. On the women’s side, freshman Lizzy Crawford was the No. 1 placing 22nd with a time of 22:32.3.
“The biggest takeaway is that things are moving in the right direction for us as a team,” Head Coach Lauren Floris said. “We’re improving in the ways that we need to improve, and we have great kids on the team.”
Following Crawford, senior Elle Shrader was No. 2 for Pepperdine and came in 35th place, followed by freshman Hannah Bruner in 38th place, junior Megan LaCamera in 52nd place and freshman Hannah Miller in 57th place to round off the scorers.
This year’s team had three runners place higher than Pepperdine’s No. 1 runner in last season’s meet, with two having better times. Their seventh place finish is the highest place for the women’s cross country team since 2013.
“To beat San Diego this year was really exciting,” Floris said. “And to be in a battle with LMU up until the later stages of the race, they’re a really good marker of where we’re at.”
Despite this, Crawford said the team couple improve on keeping pace with their opponents.
“We did a great job of that at our last meet at Bronco of picking people, sticking with them and passing them,” Crawford said. “Today, personally and as a team, we could have done better at sticking with our competitors and not letting them pass.”
For the men’s team, No. 2 two runner freshman Dominic Sihol came in 28th, then sophomore Patrick Thomas came in 29th, graduate Will Bullock came in 34th and sophomore Joshua Bergers rounded off the scorers coming in 35th.
Pepperdine’s top three runners increased their place by at least two after the halfway point. The men’s team could move up because of their conservative approach at the start, Floris said.
“They went out a little bit conservatively and were able to make some really smart moves throughout the race,” Floris said. “It was exciting to see them working as a team. That’s the best pack running we’ve done all season.”
Flint said the course they ran was more difficult than others, which is why starting conservatively was a difference maker.
“There’s a lot of people who went out there and underestimated certain parts of the course and the heat,” Flint said. “They paid for it at the back end of the race.”
This is the second time in program history and the first time since 2013 Pepperdine hosted the championship meet. This gave the entire team the opportunity to support the runners instead of just the ones who travel, Flint said.
“Every single turn there’s people on my team cheering me on,” Flint said. “Every single day, it’s almost the whole team together running. So, to have that same thing at a race day is really important.”
The Waves next race will be in Sacramento, California for the NCAA West Regional on Nov. 11. Both teams will look to build off the success they have had and look forward to the future, Crawford said.
“Take this as not the end to our season but one more step towards a big race that we still have,” Crawford said. “Keeping our eyes looking forward to what we have next.”
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Contact Tony Gleason on Twitter (@tony__gleason) or via email: anthony.gleason@pepperdine.edu
