WCC Championships Await Cross Country Teams Saturday
10/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
WCC Championships Await Cross Country Teams Saturday
October 28, 2009
Click on the above video of head coach Robert Radnoti's comments on the upcoming WCC Championships.
West Coast Conference Cross Country Championship Central
MALIBU, Calif. - Pepperdine's men's and women's cross country teams head north to Belmont, Calif. and the course at Crystal Springs this Saturday for the West Coast Conference Championships. The men's 8K race begins at 9 a.m., followed by the women's 5K at 9:45 a.m.
The Waves' women's team is led by junior Chelsea Wishard (Lawai, Hawai'i/Kauai HS) and sophomore Lauren Lodge (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton HS), both of whom were All-WCC preseason team selections. Wishard was the WCCs bronze-medalist at last year's race, completing the course in 22:07, while Lodge was 17th (22:59).
After missing the season-opening dual against Cal State Bakersfield, Wishard went on to lead Pepperdine to the finish line at four consecutive races and was the overall winner at the Roadrunner Invitational with a 5K time of 17:45. The following week she posted her best 5K of the year (17:43) in finishing 12th overall at the Bronco Invitational.
Wishard has been the Waves' fastest runner the last two seasons as evidenced by her team-best 10-race winning streak, which dates to the start of her sophomore year.
Lodge has served as the runner-up to Wishard on many of those occasions, including four times this season. But Lodge did win the lone race Wishard missed and claimed first place at the 5K Malibu Oceanside Open (19:14).
Rounding out the women's team's top five could be a combination of freshman Megan Doeding (La Crescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley HS), sophomores Elizabeth Coe (Fountain Valley, Calif./Fountain Valley HS), Hannah DeWalt (Gig Harbor, Wash./Gig Harbor HS) and Aneasha Lawrence (Sun Valley, Calif./Village Christian HS) or junior Danielle Varela (Hesperia, Calif./Sultana HS).
Coe came on strong during the second half of the regular season to finish third for Pepperdine at the Waves' final three meets at Riverside, Bakersfield and Santa Clara, while DeWalt has improved by one place following each event. DeWalt began the year finishing eighth for Pepperdine at home and took fourth two weeks ago at the Bronco Invitational.
Lawrence, an 800-meter runner during track season, has a pair of third and fourth place showings this season and flew way under the 19-minute mark at Bakersfield (18:28.30) to finish fifth overall.
Varela, a newcomer, recently posted her best time and finish of the year at Santa Clara, while Doeding recorded her season-best 5K of 18:46.9 at Bakersfield.
Pepperdine's men's team has displayed a great deal or parity this season as four different runners have led the Waves to the finish line through five meets.
Junior and team co-captain Jordan Wozniak (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) was tops at the season opener, sophomore Kenny Smith (Willits, Calif./Willits HS) was the best of the bunch at Irvine, and junior team co-captain Seth Allison (Canyon, Texas/Canyon HS) - the Waves' fastest runner at the 2008 WCC meet - carried the Waves at Riverside.
But over the past two meets it's been freshman Wesley Blundell (Brush Prairie, Wash. (Prairie HS) who's been posting Pepperdine's best performances. Blundell took third overall at Cal State Bakersfield with a season-best 8K of 25:15.90 and followed that outing with a 41st-place time of 25:30 at Santa Clara's Invitational.
Even before his modest winning streak started in late September, Blundell had always been running toward the front of the pack. He began the year with a fourth-place 5K mark of 16:09 at Pepperdine's Alumni Park and the quickly became the Waves' No. 2 competitor at Irvine and Riverside.
Allison, Smith and Wozniak also have been very consistent in their finishes and none of them have placed lower than fifth for Pepperdine at any time this year. Smith has three runner-up showings for the Waves in addition to his lone win.
Pepperdine's lone senior Garrett Reim (Fircrest, Wash./Curtis HS) should also be counted on to finish among the top five. Reim twice finished third for Pepperdine and was fifth for the Waves at larger meets hosted by Irvine and SCU. His best 5K this year was a 26:15.4 posted at Riverside.
The Portland Pilots men's and women's squads are the favorites once again to repeat as conference champions. The Portland men have won the last 30 WCC titles, while their female counterparts have claimed 18 of the last 22 conference crowns.
Log on to WCCsports.com for full coverage and results of the WCC Championships.
