Seven School Records Fall at Pomona Pitzer
4/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track
MALIBU, Calif. - Pepperdine freshman Lauren Lodge won her first collegiate steeplechase race Saturday at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational with a time of 10:54.93, establishing one of seven new school records set by the Waves.
Lodge (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton HS) defeated the rest of the nine-woman field by more than 40 seconds and came within four seconds of the NCAA Championship qualfying time.
"It was an incredible race for Lolo (Lodge)," head coach Robert Radnoti said. "I was standing with several other coaches and all of them were impressed with how she performed and how close to she came to the NCAA qualifying mark. We're going to work on her form over the next few weeks and I can see her being Pepperdine Track's first NCAA competitor. It's going to happen."
The Waves' female sprinters also had a great day on the track. Sophomore Bridgette Walker (Oak Harbor, Wash./Oak Harbor HS) lowered her varsity record in the 400-meter to a 58.03, and ran the third leg on a 4x400-meter relay that posted a new school mark of 4:01.49. Walker was joined on this relay by freshman Erica Gove (El Cajon, Calif./Granite Hills HS), junior Catherine Lamb (Bullhead City, Ariz./Mohave HS) and sophomore Amanda Ajdari (Valencia, Calif./Hart HS), who ran the first, second and anchor legs, respectively.
Walker challenged Ajdari for the school record in the 200-meter dash, and while both broke Ajdari's previous standard of 25.74, Ajdari again came out on top of her classmate with a time of 25.56. Walker finished two spots behind at 25.69.
In the field, sophomore Aneka Myles (Victorville, Calif./Silverado HS) eclipsed both of her throwing records in the shot put and discus. Myles broke her record in the shot put by only 2.25 inches with a toss of 35 feet-4 inches, but then obliterated her discus mark by more than 14 feet. Myles launched the discus 111-11, easily surpassing her old distance of 97-1, set at last year's Pomona-Pitzer meet.
On the men's side, freshman Robby DeVillez (Fullerton, Calif./Ruben S. Ayala HS) established the first school record in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:04.74. A high school jumper, DeVillez used the 400m hurdles as a training step for steeplechase races to be held later this season.
"This was a really great day for Pepperdine track and field," Radnoti said. "The conditions were perfect, the competition was outstanding, and it all led to everyone coming out and posting many personal best times."
