Runners Travel to WCC Championships
10/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
UPCOMING — The Waves will travel to Belmont, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 27, to compete in the WCC Championships at Crystal Springs. Last year junior Courtney Young ( Encinitas, Calif. / La Costa HS) finished 24th and junior Brie Carroll (Pusan, South Korea / Pusan American HS) finished 31st. The women finished fifth overall, while the men ended the season with a sixth place finish.
FULLERTON INVITATIONAL: A small group of Pepperdine cross country runners took part in the Titan Cross Country Invitational, hosted by Cal State Fullerton, on Friday afternoon. Most of the Waves’ runners were held out in preparations this weekend’s West Coast Conference meet.
Freshman Isaiah White (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks HS) led a group of three men’s runners in the 8K with a 26th-place finish in 27:36. Freshman Tom Verdone (Anaheim, Calif./Canyon HS) was right behind in 28th place. Senior Josh Stutzman (Newberg, Ore./Newberg HS) was 50th in 29:55.
For the women, junior Marissa Kerby (Riverside, Calif./Ayala HS) led four Pepperdine runners that finished the 5K with a time of 20:38, good for 54th place. Freshman Mary Stutzman (Newberg, Ore./Newberg HS) was 61st in 21:09, junior Ashley Burt (Boise, Idaho/Boise HS) was 63rd in 21:17 and sophomore Liz Lyons (West Warwick, R.I./St. Mary Academy) was 86th in 24:02.
UP NEXT: The Waves will travel to Eugene, Oregon for the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 10.
HEAD COACH— Robert Radnoti begins his second season as head coach of the Pepperdine men’s and women’s cross country program. Radnoti previously coached at Thousand Oaks High School where his girls’ team won the Division I state cross country title in 2005. Radnoti brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to the program.
ASSISTANT COACHES — Four-time Olympian and U.S. national 800-meter record holder Johnny Gray joins the Pepperdine cross country program this season. Gray will work primarily on speed and technique. Dick Kampmann, the former Waves cross country coach for 17-years, returns as a volunteer coach. Jan Radnoti, who has coached alongside her husband at Thousand Oaks High School, also begins her first year with the Waves as a volunteer assistant.
PEPPERDINE HISTORY —Pepperdine’s cross country program dates back to the 1960s when Ron Pettigrew and Harry Skandera were both All-American runners. The program was dropped when Pepperdine moved its campus to Malibu. However, men’s and women’s cross country was reinstated in the mid-1970s. This year’s women’s squad is the largest in the history of the Pepperdine program.
