Pepperdine University
WCC Championships
Wishard Again Takes Third at WCCs
10/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
BELMONT, Calif. - Pepperdine junior Chelsea Wishard (Lawai, Hawai'i/Kauai HS) finished third at the West Coast Conference Cross Country Championships Saturday at Crystal Springs.
Wishard completed the 6K course in 21:14 as she earned the conference's bronze medal for a second consecutive year. However, this year's time was 53 seconds faster. She is also the first Wave in the program's history to post consecutive top-10 showings.
"Chelsea once again was our highlight performer," head coach Robert Radnoti said. "She was almost a minute faster than last year and I'm excited about the progress she continues to make. We're now looking forward to NCAA West Regionals in a few weeks."
Wishard missed catching freshman Sheree Shea of Loyola Marymount for second place by just three seconds, while winner Stephanie Wilson of Santa Clara cruised to the individual title with a time of 20:32.
San Francisco, which was expected to place third in the preseason coaches' poll, won the women's team title with 45 points. Three of the Dons placed fourth, fifth and sixth and another claimed 10th as USF won its first conference crown and snapped a seven-year winning streak for Portland.
The Pepperdine women placed fifth with 129 points, a one-place improvement despite scoring 12 more points.
On the men's side, the Waves' finished sixth with 187 points down from fifth place (137 pts.) from a year ago. Sophomore Kenny Smith (Willits, Calif./Willits HS) posted Pepperdine's best mark with a time of 26:28 - a three-minute improvement from 2008. He was also the Waves' No. 7 runner from a year ago.
"We performed as the preseason polls indicated with the men finishing sixth and the women fifth, but I thought there were a number of good runs for Pepperdine today," Radnoti said. "We continued to make progress all year long and we definitely ran better than last year."
Portland totaled 34 points and won the men's title for a 31st consecutive year. Pilot sophomore Alfred Kipchumba led all competitors on the 8K course with a time of 24:20.
