Pepperdine Posts Personal Bests at Santa Clara

SANTA CLARA, Calif. Â A series of personal bests recorded on the course at Baylands Park highlighted Pepperdine cross country’s Saturday morning at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational.

Sophomore Chelsea Wishard (Lawai, Hawai’i/Kauai HS) and freshman Lauren Lodge (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton HS) were the Waves’ top competitors on the women’s side as each finished their 5K in 17:54. Team captain and sophomore Conrad Wozniak (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) led the Pepperdine men with an 8K time of 25:29, while grad student Cole Feldman (Carroll, Iowa/Kuemper HS) was the Waves’ #2 at 25:35.

Despite the equal times posted by Wishard and Lodge, the senior was noted as finishing a place higher in the official results, 15th to 16th. Wishard has been Pepperdine’s top finisher in all six races this season.

Today’s race was Wozniak’s second of the season. He was Pepperdine’s fourth-fastest runner in his one prior competition last month at Hawai’i, and is the fourth different Wave in 2008 to lead Pepperdine to the finish line, joining Feldman, sophomore Seth Allison (Canyon, Texas/Canyon HS) and freshman Jimmy Kelley (Santa Clarita, Calif./Hart HS).

“Most of our student-athletes hit p.r.’s today, and that was our whole purpose coming here to run on a flat and fast surface,” Pepperdine head coach Robert Radnoti said. “Everything worked out well and we should be able to run faster at Crystal Springs in two weeks.”

In the team scoring columns, the Pepperdine women were eighth with 162 points and the men took ninth with 218 points. However, Radnoti noted both squads are continuing to close the gap with their conference rivals at Santa Clara.

The Waves’ top three on the women’s side: Wishard, Lodge and freshman Elizabeth Coe (Fountain Valley, Calif./Fountain Valley HS) totaled 57 points, while the top three Broncos scored 54 points.

Long Beach State of the Big West Conference claimed both team titles and women’s individual winner Sarah Apgar, who clocked a 17:14. Fresno State’s Erick Garcia won the men’s race in 24:37.

Radnoti essentially has his women’s lineup figured out for the West Coast Conference Championships on Nov. 1, but said it’s still close on the men’s side. He won’t reveal the championship rosters until month’s end and/or figure out how he and the coaching staff want to treat next Friday’s invitational at Cal State Fullerton, which could serve as the men's team's final WCC qualifying opportunity.

Races at the Titan Invitational begin at 4:30 p.m.

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