Off The Beaten Path: Chelsea Wishard
10/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
MALIBU, Calif. - From talking with Pepperdine cross country head coach Robert Radnoti about junior harrier Chelsea Wishard, one would get the impression that she is one of the sport's most perceptive and discerning competitors.
Every race of hers over the past three seasons has followed a similar pattern; she starts with a conservative pace before finishing strong. This race strategy has been quite successful as it has helped her lead Pepperdine to the finish line at 10 consecutive races.
But the reality is there really is no race strategy. The girl can just flat out run.
"I always make plans going into a run," Wishard said. "I want to start strong without being too fast and stay with the top pack, but I forget about a lot of that once the race starts and I just run. Robert, though, always seems to know what I'm going to do anyways. I start slow, finish strong and just run in between."
One of Wishard's best performances took place at last year's West Coast Conference Championships, where the native Hawaiian placed third on the 5K course with a time of 22:07. She finished two seconds behind runner-up Dana Morgan of Portland and clipped San Francisco's Michelle Born for the bronze medal over the final 200 meters.
Wishard's performance was the best by a Pepperdine runner since Rebecca Freebury won the 1999 conference title in 18:18. Freebury's time remains the school's fastest mark at WCCs.
"Chelsea got herself in a great position from the start, running with the pack of top-10 runners," Radnoti said following the race. "She was in sixth by the start of the final lap and then came on strong like she always does."
For this year, Wishard's goal is to improve on her time and still finish among the top five. This objective should be easier to accomplish now that the forecast for the Crystal Springs Course in Belmont, Calif., is calling for sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70's.
The change in weather is a welcome one for Wishard as her last two WCCs took place under miserable conditions.
"I can handle the cold weather," she said, "but I prefer to run in warmer conditions with the sun shining. It's supposed to be in the 70s at Crystal Springs - much nicer than other years when it's been stormy, freezing and miserable. It will still be a little cool, but not having any rain will make it a lot better."
Although Wishard wants to succeed on her own, she's more concerned about the team's overall performance. There was talk that Pepperdine could possibly crack into the top three at last year's conference meet, but the Waves instead fell to sixth following consecutive fifth-place showings in 2006 and 2007.
Heading into this year's preseason, this team worked hard to transform itself into a tightly-knit community - a sisterhood, which features seven newcomers in addition to five returning competitors from the 2008 WCCs. The team's regular activities together have included weekend trips, regular talks over dinner and nightly runs to the local frozen yogurt joint.
"It's been a stressful season at times for all of this year and because a lot of us are going through the same stuff like 6:45 a.m. practices, we can really rely on each other for moral support and help each other out," Wishard said. "I just want everyone to go out there and have their best day of running. We've worked really hard this year and we deserve to do well."
Wishard especially is hoping her team can at least top Santa Clara. The Waves were recently edged by the Broncos by one place (11 points) at few weeks ago at the Bronco Invitational.
"I like being able to compete against the other conference schools at a meet we all take a little more seriously," she said. "I like competing against LMU, because they're our rivals. San Francisco and Santa Clara have some good girls, and Portland is just unbelievable. The Pilots are amazing to watch."
Since Pepperdine is still building its foundations, Wishard and many of her teammates consider WCCs to be the main event of their season even though a trip to NCAA West Regionals in Eugene, Ore., and the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. are still listed on the schedule.
Wishard says she really wants to succeed at the regional level, but if she's going to do it, she wants her teammates to be there with her at the finish line.
"Regionals is a great race but I still have a lot more work to do in order to be competitive at that level," she said. "I just don't want to be good there on my own, I want to do it with my teammates and get us all to nationals. And I know this program will get to that point one day."
