Wishard, Waves Claim Individual and Team Titles at CSUB
9/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Junior Chelsea Wishard (Lawai, Hawai'i/Kauai HS) won the women's race and freshman Wesley Blundell (Brush Prairie, Wash./Prairie HS) was tops for the men's team with a third-place finish Saturday morning at Cal State Bakersfield's Roadrunner Invitational.
Wishard defeated the flat and fast 5K course in 17:45 and was quickly followed to the finish line by teammates Lauren Lodge (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton HS), Elizabeth Coe (Fountain Valley, Calif./Fountain Valley) and Aneasha Lawrence (Sun Valley, Calif./Village Christian HS), who placed second, fourth and fifth, respectively, as the Waves dominated the four-team field with 21 points.
Wishard has won her last 10 races for the Waves, a streak that dates back to start of the 2008 season.
"Chelsea ran her normal race," head coach Robert Radnoti said. "She was hanging back while Lolo (Lodge) had the early lead and then between miles one and two she just blew up and took the lead for good. I'm beginning to see a strong nucleus form within this team; Lolo had another strong race, Lizzie finished closer to the front and Hannah (DeWalt) ran a minute under her personal record. I was really excited about her race."
DeWalt (Gig Harbor, Wash./Gig Harbor HS), a sophomore, was Pepperdine's fifth and final scorer, placing ninth in 18:38.30.
Led by Blundell's 8K time of 25:15.90, Pepperdine men's team claimed the third through sixth positions and edged Westmont, 29-31 for the team title. Westmont's Nathan Kemp and Jake Jeanson finished first and second, but the next three Warrior runners finished seventh, ninth and 12th.
Blundell is the fourth different runner in as many meets to lead Pepperdine to the finish line, joining a group that already includes Kenny Smith (Willits, Calif./Willits HS) , Seth Allison (Canyon, Texas/Canyon HS) and Conrad Wozniak (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS), who were the Waves' No. 4 through 6 runners today.
"Wes worked real hard this summer and into the fall and it was great to see him succeed today," Radnoti said. "He's a very studious runner. We had a good meeting the other night and he followed the race strategy developed for him to a tee."
Both Pepperdine teams are off from competition for the next three weeks. They'll return to action Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Bronco Invitational hosted by Santa Clara.
