Pepperdine University
Highlander Invitational
Waves Run Well at UCR's Highlander Invitational
10/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
RIVERSIDE, Calif. " Pepperdine senior Katie Engel came in fourth place overall at UC Riverside's Highlander Invitational on Saturday morning, highlighting the Waves' cross country teams' participation in the meet.
It was the final regular-season tuneup for the Waves, who will now go on to compete at the West Coast Conference Championships on Oct. 31 and the NCAA West Regional on Nov. 13.
"We had a pretty good day," Pepperdine Coach Robert Radnoti said. "It was neat to see a lot of parents at the meet, many who flew in. It was a big boost having Waves Weekend and so many parents and relatives here. It was a good day for competition. This was sort of a Big West Conference preview meet so we got to run against some good teams.
"Katie had a slow start but then she really pushed the pace and made her way up the pack, all the way to fourth. She's getting tougher and tougher and she's now beating runners who had beaten her earlier this season. The men ran well and continue to improve. Six of our runners were faster than our #1 runner was here last year. We had some good, strong performances."
Engel (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima HS) posted her third top-five finish in four meets this season, running the 5K in 17:33.60. It's the 13th time in the last 17 meets than Engel has been Pepperdine's top runner.
Senior Mariah Gondeiro (Raynesford, Mont./Belt HS/Rocky Mountain College) came in 18th place in 18:27.46. Also scoring for the Waves were junior Lindsay Sheaffer (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS), junior Elle Lemco (San Jose, Calif./Prospect HS) and junior Ellie Smith (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck HS).
In the men's 6K, freshman Nick Heath (Scotts Valley, Calif./Scotts Valley HS) led the way again with a 12th-place finish in 18:20.34. He's been the Waves' top runner at all four meets.
Junior Ben Fox (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain HS) came in 19th place and junior Gordie Thomas (Fallbrook, Calif./Great Oak HS) was 22nd, and the Waves' other scorers were sophomore Nick Blanchard (Portland, Conn./Portland HS) and sophomore Kyle Cajero (Tucson, Ariz./Pusch Ridge Christian Academy).
The men came in fifth place out of seven teams, while the women were seventh out of 10 teams.
