Men Finish 10th at ASICS UC Invitational

IRVINE, Calif. Â Freshman Conrad Wozniak led the Pepperdine men’s cross country team to a 10th-place showing at the Asics UC Irvine Invitational in what ended up being a controversial men’s 8-kilometer race. The women’s team finished the 5-kilometer in eighth place led by freshman Chelsea Wishard.

 

“Some official told us in the middle of the race that we missed a loop, then when we were starting our kick and heading for the finish chute, they redirected us to run another loop to make up for the one we missed,” said Wozniak.

What resulted was pandemonium at the finish. Some runners finished too soon while following those who had completed the added loop into the finish chute. Wozniak (Irvine, Calif / Woodbridge HS) finished in 31^st place with a time of 25:58, yet was in 20^th place at the four mile mark.

“It was tough mentally to adjust your pace and keep running when you think you are finishing,” Wozniak said.

“That’s part of cross country,” said head coach Robert Radnoti. “You have to be prepared for anything and know the course you’re competing on ahead of time.”

Competing in a field of 20 universities and colleges, Pepperdine finished just two places behind host UC Irvine. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo was the overall team champions, capturing the first two places in the race. Finishing second for the Waves was senior Chris Ogle (Tucson, Ariz./ Mountain View HS) in 25:59 (33rd), followed by freshman Seth Allison (Canyon Texas/ Canyon HS) in 26:23 (48th), freshman David Williams (Manhattan Beach, Calif./ Mira Costa HS) in 26:50 (65th) and freshman Eric Magana (Whittier, Calif./ La Serna HS) in 27:16 (80th).

A field of 12 teams competed in the women’s race led by UC Irvine. Wishard (Lawai, Hawaii/ Kauai HS), who crossed the line in 19:28 (39th), was not happy with her finish.

“I thought there was more of the race left and I had too much left at the end. I should have known the course better,” Wishard said.

Freshman Lilly Spratt (Old Lyme, Conn. / Lyme Old Lyme HS) was the second Wave through the chute in a time of 19:38 (44th). Finishing just five behind her in 49th, was freshman Anna Honig in 19:51 ( (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Snider HS) who ran a blistering 5:40 first mile and led the team for the first part of the race.

“My goal is to be able to go out and sustain that pace the entire race.” Honig said.

Freshmen Kelli Binder (Los Gatos, Calif/ Los Gatos HS) and Jessica Cervantes (South Pasadena/ South Pasadena HS) finished in 20:50 (65th) and 20:51 (66th) respectively.

MEN 8k Run CC: (31) Conrad WozniakÂ25:58, (33) Chris OgleÂ25:59,

(48) Seth AllisonÂ26:23, (65) David WilliamsÂ26:50, (80) Eric MagnaÂ27:16,

(87) Tom VerdoneÂ27:27(90) Garrett ReimÂ27:35, (175) Josh StutzmanÂ30:43

 

WOMEN 5k Run CC: (39) Chelsea WishardÂ19:28, (48) Lilly SprattÂ19:38,

(49) Anna HonigÂ19:51, (65) Kelli BinderÂ20:50, (66) Jessica CervantesÂ20:50,

(75) Jessica HeckmanÂ21:33, (79)ÂAshley BurtÂ22:02, Molly CoeÂ22:03,

Liz LyonsÂ24:02

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