Pepperdine University
Capital Cross Challenge
Cross Country Teams Run Well in Sacramento
10/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
SACRAMENTO, Calif. " For the third time in three races, freshman Nick Heath and senior Katie Engel led the Pepperdine men's and women's cross country teams as the Waves ran at the Capital Cross Challenge on Saturday morning.
In the men's 8K at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex, Heath (Scotts Valley, Calif./Scotts Valley HS) came in fourth place overall out of 68 runners with a time of 24:58.0. Pepperdine's cross country records currently go back to 1996 and Heath became the first Wave to break 25 minutes in an 8K in the past two decades.
The men's team came in fourth out of seven Division I teams, which included its second head-to-head victory of the season over West Coast Conference rival San Diego.
In the women's 5K, Engel (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima HS) came in 19th place out of 89 runners with a time of 17:45.0. It's the 12th time in the last 16 races that Engel has led the Waves, who came in seventh out of 10 teams (but defeated WCC foes Pacific and Saint Mary's).
"This was an excellent course and it's the site of next year's NCAA West Regional so it was good to run here," Pepperdine Coach Robert Radnoti said. "We had perfect conditions and both teams raced pretty well. We're really excited about Nick finishing fourth and breaking 25 minutes, especially given that he's just a freshman. He ran a conservative race and then kept moving up through the pack."
Finishing behind Heath in the men's race was sophomore Kevin Maeda (Highland, Calif./Citrus Valley HS) in 19th place, junior Ben Fox (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain HS) in 21st, sophomore Nick Blanchard (Portland, Conn./Portland HS) in 28th and sophomore Kyle Cajero (Tucson, Ariz./Pusch Ridge Christian Academy) in 34th.
Also scoring for the women was junior Elle Lemco (San Jose, Calif./Prospect HS) in 28th place, as well as junior Lindsay Sheaffer (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS), senior Mariah Gondeiro (Raynesford, Mont./Belt HS/Rocky Mountain College) and senior Rachel Rant (Boise, Idaho/Boise HS).
"Overall I'm pretty pleased with the meet, and I'm excited for our next two weeks of training as we continue to get ready for the WCCs," Radnoti said.
The Waves will run at UC Riverside's Highlander Invitational on October 17, and then the WCC Championships follow on October 31.
