By Hailey Amato
Staff Writer
It all came down to one race, a matter of mere minutes, in exchange
for a season of sweat and hard work.
Since the first meet, Head Coach Dick Kampmann had said every race,
every practice was just a preparation for conference.
With that pressure on their shoulders, the men’s and women’s cross
country teams headed to Belmont this past weekend for the West Coast
Conference Championships. In the most heated competition of the year,
both teams finished fourth in eight-team fields on Saturday.
Portland claimed the men’s race easily with an impressive 18 points as
its runners landed in five of the top six spots. This was the 24th year
that the Pilots have taken the conference championship.
They were followed by Santa Clara with 48 points and University of San
Diego with 79 points. Pepperdine finished with 129 points.
“Our men did well,” Kampmann
said. “They were slotted for sixth
and they moved up to fourth. This
did not surprise me. Putting it all
together when it counted, that’s
traditional for Pepperdine cross
country.”
Freshmen Chad Trammell completed
a strong rookie season, leading the
Waves with a time of 26:54 over the
8-kilometer course.
His finish was good for 16th place
and the fourth fastest time ever for
Pepperdine on the Crystal Springs course. Trammell’s times have been
the fastest freshman times ever on
almost every course he has ran this
year.
“I was happy with my race,” Trammell said. “I went out a little too fast.
I guess I was just pumped up, but I felt like I hung on well.”
Junior Louis Rich was the Wave’s next man in, clocking 27:10 in 20th place.
Junior Kevin Nerison was 26th at 27:39, senior Dave Cameron was 30th at
27:49, and freshman Drew Repp placed 35th at 28:03.
“Everyone ran solid and smart,” Trammell said. “We came through and beat
teams that had beaten us earlier in the season. We performed well when it
really counted. We were a little shaky in the beginning, but it doesn’t really
matter what happened then. Conference is what matters.”
On the women’s side, with 39 points, Portland stole the title from defending
champion Santa Clara. Santa Clara finished with 60 points, edging San Diego
out by four. Pepperdine finished with 114 points.
A young face also led the Waves in this race. Freshman Lauren Tyree placed
16th at 19:27, which puts her sixth on the all-time fastest list for this course.
The talented freshman runners will continue to be strength for the Waves,
Kampmann said.
“Tyree and Watson have been a surprise these last three or four weeks,”
Kampmann said. “Conference is a stressful time and for freshmen it’s an all new
experience. You’re racing a huge group of people, who are good, probably as
good or better than you. It’s one race on a very very difficult course. They did
well as freshmen. By the time they are seniors they’ll be in the top 10.”
Junior Jennifer Crossland and freshman Shanon Watson came across the line
together in 21st and 22nd place, respectively. They both recorded 19:34 over
the 5-kilometer course. Crossland was recently elected as women’s team captain
for next season.
Sophomore Lauren Gray came in 26th at 19:55 and junior Christine Carter
rounded out the Wave’s top five in 29th place at 20:00.
“It’s been a great season,” Crossland said. “We began the season with an
abnormal amount of injuries. We practiced hard all season and prepared ourselves
mentally and physically. A lot of our practices mirrored our races. We pulled
through the setbacks and ran tough. I’m proud of us.”
Pepperdine needs to step up if they want
to compete with the elite three, Santa
Clara,USD and Portland.There is a huge
gap between these teams and the rest
of the field.
“These runners work hard,” Kampmann said. “They give me everything that they
have. It’s enough to finish respectfully, but it’s not enough to get to the next level that they want to be at.”
The key to next year’s success will be
dedication, Kampmann said. He hopes that
his runners will log between 70 to 80 miles
a week from now until August to prepare
for their season.
“Every runner in the top five at conference gets up and runs at 5:30 and then
goes out and runs again in the evening,” Kampmann said. “That’s what they do at
other schools.
We’ve used the excuse, ‘we’re not scholarship’ as a crutch for too long. It’s easy to
excuse ourselves. It’s a valid reason, but we have to find a way to change our
program. I don’t want my runners to be satisfied where they are because they can
be so much better.”
The Waves will use this philosophy heading into next year.
“It was a season of learning,” Kampmann said. “We learned what we need to do and
now we have to do it. There isn’t anyone who wants to finish in the middle, the best
of the worst and the worst of the best. The dedicated runners will find the time, find
a way. It’s going to take some sacrifices to run at the level those other schools are
running.”
The Waves have one more meet on their schedule, a qualifier for the NCAA finals.
They will race at the NCAA West Regional Championships Nov. 16.
November 07, 2002