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FULLERTON, Calif. - Near school records in women's hurdles events by Tori Occhipinti and Hannah Turpin highlighted the Pepperdine track team's showing at the Ben Brown Invitational on Saturday.

"It was a very hot day in Fullerton," Pepperdine Coach Robert Radnoti said. "We had some pretty good times, and we're on our way to better times as the season goes on. The team's excited about their progress."

Occhipinti (Coto de Caza, Calif./Crean Lutheran HS) ran 15.68 in the 100-meter hurdles, just .02 away from her personal record (which ranks #2 on the school's all-time list) and .09 away from the school record. She placed 15th overall. Also in that event, freshman Madison Hays (Fort Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge HS) ran 16.85, giving her sole possession of #5 on the Waves' all-time list.

"Tori ran pretty good races in the 100 and 200 and had a really nice time in the hurdles, just missing the school record," Radnoti said. "She felt really good about her improvement from the first two meets. It was a really good race."

In the 400-meter hurdles, Turpin (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon HS) finished in 10th place with a time of 67.98. That was a half-second away from the school record, and the junior set a personal record that moved her from #3 to a tie for #2 on the Waves' all-time list.

Freshman Claudia Rodriguez (Nashville, Tenn./ Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet HS) had the Waves' top times in both the 200 and 400, while Pepperdine was led by junior Stasia Demick (Seattle, Wash./Holy Names Academy) in the 800 and sophomore Elle Lemco (San Jose, Calif./Prospect HS) in the 1,500.

On the men's side, freshman Kyle Cajero (Tucson, Ariz./Pusch Ridge Christian Academy) won his heat in the 800 meters with a time of 1:57.22. He was 17th overall.

"Kyle had a good strategic run and won his heat, which was nice," Radnoti said. "His time isn't where we want it to be just yet, but it was good to see him win his race."

Sophomore Torin Wile (Beverly Hills, Mich./Brother Rice HS) broke his own school record in the rarely-run 400 meters with a time of 51.82. The Waves were led in the 1,500 by freshman Kevin Maeda (Highland, Calif./Citrus Valley HS).

The fourth meet of the 2015 season is next weekend at the UC Irvine Spring Break Invitational (March 20-21).