Wearing team shirts that said “Raditude” as a sign of support for head coach Robert Radnoti the Pepperdine cross country team outran the competition at the UC Riverside Invitational Sept. 12 in its third meet of the season.
The women’s team won the 15-team 5K open competition which was open to both Division 1 and non-Division 1 runners. They took seven out of the top attached to D1 schools.
Junior Chelsea Wishard was the first Wave to cross the finish line with a time of 17:55.7 and third overall placement. She was the first D1 runner to cross the line.
Sophomore Lauren Lodge finished second for the Waves with a time of 18:21.7 while sophomore Elizabeth Coe came in third.
Coe felt good about how she did against the competition.
“I was extremely happy with our variety of competitors because I got to see some old friends Coe said. We are definitely aggressive on the course but there is still a universal sense of camaraderie after the race.”
She said that the overall competition was a good challenge for the team.
“Running against non-college athletes as well as other colleges is great because it often takes the competition to another level Coe said. These athletes are inspiring because they prove that runners can continue to improve and compete after college.”
In the men’s 8K invitational they finished 17th in a field of 30 teams.
Junior Seth Allison was the first Wave to cross the finish line at 25:53.1. He placed 79th overall. He was content and also surprised with his performance.
“I ended up running faster than I wanted to for the first two miles which put me in a bit of an oxygen debt for the next two miles Allison said. I was finally able to run in beast mode for a change instead of conserving energy and running like a fatty.”
Freshman Wesley Blundell finished shortly after as Pepperdine’s second with a time of 26:02.0. Blundell said he was very proud of his performance and attributed his success to Radnoti.
“I feel my success as a freshman runner is a testament to the strong program that coach Radnoti has developed Blundell said. Waking up at 3 in the morning for travel is tough but the way we raced on Saturday just goes to show how committed this team is when we put on our orange.”
The Waves rested two of their top runners junior Conrad Wozniak and sophomore Kenny Smith to preserve them for the big races down the stretch.
Wozniak commends team’s dedication to success.
“A lot of the guys ran the best they could last Saturday and you really cannot ask for much more than that.” Wozniak continued.
Both the men and women will be in action Sept. 26 at the CSU Bakersfield Invitational.
