Photo by Allison Hubbard
Men’s and women’s Pepperdine cross country both finished ninth at the WCC Championships on Saturday in Sunnyvale, California.
For the women, junior Katie Engel led in 30th place overall. For the men, freshman Kevin Maeda led, finishing 51st overall.
Engel said the team faced “a lot of adversity” going into the competition this past weekend. She noted that injuries resulted in many freshmen running in their first ever big college race.
“They [the freshmen] killed it,” team captain Engel said. “Everyone went out and did their best … It’s exciting.”
On the men’s side, sophomore Nick Blanchard, who is redshirting this season, said he was extremely proud of Maeda.
“I was really impressed,” Blanchard said. “It shows the potential. He’s going to be a good runner that will develop over his three years.”
Both Engel and sophomore Ben Fox emphasized team chemistry being a high point on their respective teams.
When asked about her favorite part of this season, Engel said it was their post-race discussions. She said it’s a great time of community where they “celebrate each person.”
Fox said, “all we do is hang out with each other.”
“The guys’ team is really really compatible,” he said. “It’s not a typical team. It’s closer to a family.”
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Follow Alysha Tsuji on Twitter: @AlyshaTsuji