ALEXIS SEBRING
Sports Assistant
The Pepperdine men’s and women’s cross country team raced to the finish line at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday, with the lady Waves placing 13th out of 33 schools and the men finishing 20th among 28 schools.
Sophomore Chelsea Wishard led the pack across the 6k course with a time of 22:08, followed by senior Brie Carroll at 22:51(56th) and freshman Lauren Lodge at 23:07 (74th ).
Head coach Robert Radnoti said he was happy with the performance of the women’s team, saying that the athletes did “exceptionally well.”
The other ladies who competed include freshman Elizabeth Coe, who hit the tape at 23:17 for 87th place, sophomore Paige Knudsen at 23:25 (101st), freshman Courtney Rolando at 24:08 (140th) and freshman Paige Mobley at 24:15, ranking 146 out of 278 runners.
Leading the men’s team for the first time was freshman Jimmy Kelley, who finished with a time of 26:43, placing him at 93rd.
“The men’s team is hitting it stronger,” Radnoti said. “Jimmy’s been under the weather, but he still ran as well as the other runners. He’s a very good runner and our best recruit.”
Following in Kelley’s wake was sophomore Seth Allison, who finished at 26:57 (105th) and freshman Kenny Smith at 27:06 (111th).
Williams ran for the first time since his knee injury and a cold.
“I did pretty well, I think,” he said. “I was sick, but overall it turned out to be a good day.”
The Waves competed against four West Coast Conference schools: San Francisco, Loyola Marymount, Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara. They placed third of the WCC schools, though Stanford finished first in the entire race.
Pepperdine’s cross country teams are striving toward running relaxed, yet strong and competitive, Radnoti said. With each race, they keep their goal to be successful at the WCC and NCAA.
“The key in our sport is to push your body to max, where when you cross the finish line you have nothing left to give,” Radnoti said.
The next meet is the Pepperdine Invitational at 8 a.m. Twelve colleges and 67 high schools will be there, as well as admission stands to get the word out about Pepperdine to high school runners.
Submitted 10-02-2008
