Track and Field Year-End Notebook
6/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track
MEN’S TRACK UPDATE: Head coach
It was previously announced in late February that men’s track would be discontinued alongside women’s swimming and diving due to the current economic environment; however, Radnoti is determined to find a way in which his top distance runners can qualify and compete at the
“I’m grateful to the athletics department for giving student-athletes the opportunity to pursue All-America honors,” Radnoti said. “We haven’t hammered out all the particulars as of yet, but a select few will represent Pepperdine during the track season.”
Radnoti has yet to establish standards for the men’s track team, but will work to identify those athletes who will benefit most and will represent Pepperdine at the highest levels. Those not on the official team will also train and compete during the track season under other provisions allowed by the
RADNOTI HEADS HOME TO
Radnoti was introduced to this opportunity by close friend and Pepperdine German professor David Dowdy, whose daughter and son-in-law operate the orphanage. While there, Radnoti and other
“I’ve seen some of (Pepperdine professor) Dr. Andrei Duta’s presentations at the
Radnoti plans to return stateside on July 10 and hopes to updated his blog, which is linked to the cross country and track pages at pepperdinesports.com. Radnoti's most recent blog update can be found here.
TRACK’S 2009 HIGHLIGHTS: During the 2009 track and field season, Radnoti's student-athletes broke 19 varsity records and five Stotsenberg Track records out of a combined 25 men's and women's events. All seven relay records were rewritten as well as the field marks in the shot put and discus set by sophomore Aneka Myles (
On the track, freshman distance runner Lauren Lodge (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton HS) led all Waves with three new individual school records established in the 1,500-meter run (4:39.68), 3K (10:05.44) and steeplechase (10:54.93), while senior Brieanna Carroll (Pusan, South Korea/Pusan American HS) left as Pepperdine's leader in the 5K (17:59.34) and 10K (37:36.08).
“Brie is the first Pepperdine student-athlete who I coached from freshman through senior year and it was thrilling to see her break the school’s 5 and 10K records during the final month of competition even though she was dealing with the pressures of her senior thesis and R.O.T.C. commitments,” Radnoti said.
Elsewhere on the track, sophomore Conrad Wozniak (
Pepperdine's sprinters also put forth a solid effort. Sophomore Amanda Ajdari (
“The teams really proved how resilient they were at our home meet the day after the department cuts were announced,” Radnoti said. “They did not shrink from the challenges and were determined to keep moving this program forward and that was exciting for me to witness. Everyone, including our freshmen, just kept improving as the season continued.”
Even though Radnoti’s men’s track team will be downsized, the third-year head coach remains determined to build a quality program that provides competitive experiences that are second to none yet finds time to give back to community.
This past year, members of all four of Radnoti’s teams volunteered to clean up
“I’m looking forward to building the depth of these teams by attracting high quality student-athletes, who want to continue making progress as a thrower, sprinter or distance runner,” Radnoti said. “We smashed a slew of school records last year and I want to see them all erased again next season.”
