May 2, 2011

IRVINE, Calif. - Lauren Lodge ran the race of her life Saturday night at the 17th annual Steve Scott Invitational on the campus of UC Irvine, winning the 3000-meter steeplechase title in convincing fashion.

Lodge, affectionately known as "Lo-Lo" by her teammates and coaches, shattered Pepperdine's school-record by eight seconds as she ran a scintillating race in 10:45.53. The previous record of 10:53.90 was set by Lodge two weeks ago at the Mt. SAC Relays.

"She ran a super race. We are so excited," head coach Robert Radnoti said. "It was nice watching her finish and see her thrusting her fist in the air and saying 'yes' as she crossed the finish line."

In a highly competitive field of 13 competitors, 11 of which were amateur, Lodge showed why she might go down as the greatest long-distance female runner in Pepperdine history according to Radnoti.

Lodge (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton HS) set the tone early breaking out to a slim lead only to fend off on multiple occasions the talented efforts of Ali Mann who represented Nike. Each time Mann would close the gap at the water jump portion of the race, Lodge would begin to separate and slowly create distance each lap by dominating the steeples with excellent hurdling technique.

She won the race comfortably and is beginning to set her sights on the NCAA Championships in four weeks.

"She has more room for improvement and we look forward to LoLo continuing to make good strides," said Radnoti. "She is on her way to becoming the greatest long-distance runner we have ever had."

Lodge will next compete in the 1500-meter run on Saturday, May 7, at the Occidental Invitational in Eagle Rock. She is expected to run one more Steeplechase event at a race to be determined in the next few weeks.

In addition to her new school-record in the Steeplechase, Lodge also owns the school-record in the 1500-meter run and will look to improve upon her time of 4:38.32 that she set at the Cal Poly Invitational back on April 2.