The Pepperdine cross country team is off to a successful start as they completed their first meet of the season at the Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, Sept. 1.
Senior Jonathan Rahauser and freshman Katie Engel led the Waves as the men finished No. 17 and the women No. 8.
“The race was a good learning experience, especially for the freshmen who must now run 8ks instead of the high school 5ks,” freshman Chris Hostetler said.
“It also was a great way to get into the competitive mode of racing other schools in a lower-key meet,” he added.
“For the future I only see us moving up,” he said. “We have a relatively strong freshman class consisting of Jordan Scandlyn and Mark Vega who are hoping to help turn the program around and lead toward a better season in future.”
The first race of the season served as the first collegiate challenge for the majority of the team, as 17 of them are freshmen. An especially valuable addition to the Waves team is freshman Katie Engle, who earned all-state honorable mention as a senior and all-section as a senior, junior and sophomore in Lima High School. “We are a young group that is growing every day. We will be an exciting and extremely competitive group and will surprise a lot of people this year,” Head Coach Ronald Radnoti said in a press release.
The Waves are getting ready for the future challenges as they participate in the UC Riverside Invitational Saturday, Sept. 15.
