Pepperdine XC Ready to Tackle Big Field at UCR Invite
9/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
MALIBU, Calif. - Pepperdine men's and women's cross country teams compete this Saturday at the 29th annual UC Riverside Invitational. Three races, beginning with the women's invitational at 7:30 a.m., take place at the UCR Agricultural Operations Cross Country Course.
The women's 5K will be followed by the men's 8K at 8:15 a.m. and a women's open race at 9 a.m. Event administrators decided Tuesday to add the second women's race to avoid any problems at the finish line with official results. More than 450 female competitors are currently entered.
All women's teams have the option of running a minimum of five and a maximum of nine in the first women's race. Additional women after the ninth on one team will be required to run in the open run; however, coaches have the option of running their entire team in the second race if that would better suit the team's racing ability. Fifteen of Pepperdine's 18 runners competed last weekend, so Wave fans should expect to see Pepperdine represented in all three events.
It's been a trying two weeks for the Waves as they've continued to practice and compete without the leadership of head coach Robert Radnoti, who's been taking care of family following the passing of his father. Radnoti returned to campus last weekend for the Irvine meet - and plans to do again for this weekend's meet - but all the training sessions in between have been led by volunteer assistant coaches Cole Feldman and Chris Ogle.
Feldman and Ogle are both second-year grad students who competed recently for the Waves, making it easier for them to communicate with the men's and women's teams. This week in practice the team shifted its focus toward speed interval workouts, beginning with mile repeats on Tuesday followed by a long run Wednesday.
"We have a strong group of kids on both teams and they've really pulled together for Chris and me during coach's absence," Feldman said. "Because we're older, I think everybody is used to looking to us for leadership but I'm looking forward to having Robert back full time."
Pepperdine is coming off a solid outing at Irvine, where junior Chelsea Wishard (Lawai, Hawai'i/Kauai HS) finished eighth overall in her season debut and sophomore Kenny Smith (Willits, Calif.) led the Waves to the finish line for the first time in his career with an 8K time of 26:00.30. Wishard finished her 5K in 17:53.70, extending her Pepperdine winning streak to nine meets dating back to last season.
As a team, Pepperdine finished 7th out of 21 men's teams, totaling 230 points, while the women placed 10th out of 13 schools and clubs with 218 points.
The UCR Ag Ops course is similar in some ways to Irvine in that it's mostly flat, but there is a greater difference in elevation from one end of the course to the other. The west end, at about the 1.5 mile mark, is 100 feet lower than the start/finish area, and runners tend to go out fast only to find the return home challenging.
The course is located adjacent to campus at the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Canyon Crest Drive, and features a long loop that winds through groves of citrus trees and crosses over irrigation canals. It also has a wide running surface, allowing for a large field and outstanding racing.
"Our hill workouts have us prepared for the flatter course and we'll only get better in terms of our overall speed," Feldman said. "This is a good course for our freshmen as we're still getting them used to the 8K distance, and running on a flat and fast surface should give them a confidence boost."
Admission is $5 for all adults and children over 12. Visa, MasterCard, & American Express are accepted.
Results will be posted after each race at the finish line area and available online at www.flashresults.com/flashwest.
