Saturday's Bronco Invitational To Deterime Waves Postseason Rosters
10/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 14, 2010
West Coast Conference Cross Country Release 
MALIBU, Calif.- Pepperdine men's and women's cross country teams will compete at the same meet for the first time in close to a month this Saturday when both clubs descend on Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, Calif., for the 2010 Santa Clara Bronco Invitational.
Both squads have run independently of one another over the last few weeks. The women last competed on Sept. 25 at the Roadrunner Invitational hosted by Cal State Bakersfield, while the men were in action just this past weekend in Costa Mesa for the Vanguard Invitational.
The Baylands Park course is described as flat and fast, consisting of low cut grass and hard packed dirt paths. Pepperdine's women's team placed eighth of 17 teams at last year's invitational with Chelsea Wishard (Lawai, Hawai'i) leading the Waves with her 12th-place 5k time of 17:43. Senior Seth Allison (Canyon, Texas/Canyon HS) is Pepperdine's top returning finisher on the men's side with an 8k mark of 25:53.
Allison and Wishard along with junior Lauren Lodge (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton HS) have continued to lead the Waves throughout 2010 and are virtual locks to qualify for the upcoming WCC and NCAA West Regional Championships. Both Lodge and Wishard have placed among the top-five finishers at large invitationals at Irvine and Washington, while Allison has either placed first or second on the Waves through four meets. Allison's best 8k of the season (25:51.19) was clocked at September's Sundodger Invitational in Seattle.
Head coach Robert Radnoti is treating this meet as a final test to see who will go with the aforementioned trio into the postseason and sees a lot of quality competitors on the women's side.
"Behind Chelsea and Lolo (Lodge) we have a group of five to seven runners who can definitely help us close the gap on other teams within our conference, and it's possible we could post one of our best finishes there," he said. "The men's team will be led by Seth along with fellow upperclassmen Jordan Wozniak and Jonathan Rahaeuser …also our freshmen have been coming along and this Santa Clara meet is a good opportunity for them to experience one last big race before WCCs."
Waves who don't place among the top seven this Saturday will compete for the final time in 2010 at next Friday's Titan Invitational at Cal State Fullerton.
The Bronco Invitational itinerary begins at 8 a.m. with a community fun run followed by a women's 5k open at 9 a.m. The two primary collegiate invitationals - a second women's 5k and a men's 8k - kick off at 9:45 a.m; then the morning ends with a men's 9K open set for 11:15 a.m.
Entries into the invitational sections will be limited to each school's top-10 athletes. The first five finishers per school will score; the next two will displace.
