Results

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Katie Engel and Kevin Maeda were Pepperdine's top runners again as the West Coast Conference Cross Country Championships were held at Baylands Park on Saturday morning.

Engel (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima HS), a junior, led Pepperdine's women in the 6K for the fourth time in five races this season, and for the eighth time in the last 11 meets dating back to last year. She came in 30th place overall (a 14-place improvement over her finish at the 2013 WCC Championships) in a time of 21:21.0.

In the men's 8K, Maeda (Highland, Calif./Citrus Valley HS), a freshman, was the top Wave for a team-best third time this season. He came in 51st place overall with a time of 25:32.9.

"It was a pretty good day weather-wise," Pepperdine Coach Robert Radnoti said. "There were pretty good conditions that were conducive to cross country. I'm proud of the women's effort and I think we'll run even stronger in two weeks as we get a little healthier. Our top three men's runners were freshmen, and it's been really exciting to see their progress through the season. The three of them are forming the nucleus of our future.

"All in all, it was a good effort. We want to finish higher and we'll keep working toward that. But everyone is improving, setting PRs and becoming better runners."

Both squads came in ninth place in the team competitions. BYU won the women's race and Portland captured the men's.

Also scoring for Pepperdine's women were sophomore Lindsay Sheaffer (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS), senior Lisa Santroch (Shoreline, Wash./Shorewood HS), sophomore Elle Lemco (San Jose, Calif./Prospect HS) and sophomore Ellie Smith (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck HS). Lemco was making her season debut after coming back from a preseason injury.

The other four Pepperdine men to score were freshman Kyle Cajero (Tucson, Ariz./Pusch Ridge Christian Academy), freshman Rudy Gonzalez (Whittier, Calif./California HS), sophomore Gordie Thomas (Fallbrook, Calif./Great Oak HS) and sophomore Ben Fox (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain HS).

The Waves will next compete at the NCAA West Regional at Stanford on November 14.