MALIBU, Calif. " Robert Radnoti's 10th season as head coach of Pepperdine's men's and women's cross country teams begins Tuesday when the Waves will host Cal State Northridge and CSU Bakersfield in picturesque Alumni Park.

Radnoti welcomes back a veteran group that includes 13 returning letterwinners on the women's side and eight for the men. The women will compete in a 4K beginning at 4 p.m. against the Matadors and Roadrunners, while the men's 5K with CSUN will be at 4:30 p.m.

Because of academic obligations, not all of the Waves' runners will take part, but it will serve as a good springboard into the rest of the schedule, which includes stops in San Diego (Aztec Invitational, Sept. 18), Sacramento (Sacramento Jamboree, Oct. 3) and Riverside (Highlander Invitational, Oct. 17) before the West Coast Conference Championships (at Gonzaga on Oct. 31) and the NCAA West Regional Championship (in Seattle on Nov. 13).

The squad recently returned from a week-long training trip to Lake Tahoe, which Radnoti called "absolutely perfect."

"From training to team bonding to team activities, it was an incredible experience," said Radnoti, who recently received an endurance running specialization certificate from the USTFCCCA and has begun putting it to good use. "We had the chance to go hiking or running in some of the most scenic spots in the world. We've got kids from all over the country and they all had an amazing time."

As usual, the program's focus goes well beyond running fast times. Radnoti has begun implementing Tony Robbins life strategies that deal with seven types of wealth: physical, emotional, time management, relationship, work/school, financial and spiritual/contribution to the world. The team's spiritual leaders also gave devotionals in Lake Tahoe and Radnoti is pleased to welcome Pepperdine Law School Dean of Students Al Sturgeon as the new team chaplain.

"George Pepperdine wanted this to be a place where students could explore their faith, and that's what we do within our team," he said. "It's amazing to see their growth over four years."

The 21-member women's team consists of nine runners that competed last year, five other returning athletes and seven newcomers. They should again be led by senior Katie Engel (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima HS), who has been a three-year standout for the Waves. The team captain was Pepperdine's top finisher at five of six meets last year and nine of the last 13 overall.

"Katie has been a team captain since her freshman year and she is without a doubt the best team captain I've had in my 30 years of coaching," Radnoti said.

Radnoti expects senior Mariah Gondeiro (Raynesford, Mont./Belt HS/Rocky Mountain College) and junior Elle Lemco (San Jose, Calif./Prospect HS) to push Engel for top honors this season. Gondeiro is a first-year law student who has one year of eligibility left after excelling in running and basketball for Rocky Mountain College of the NAIA. Lemco had a strong freshman year but missed much of her sophomore season due to injury.

"Those three have distanced themselves a bit from the rest of the team," Radnoti said. "In order to have our strongest team, we need to get at least five up there, and we're working hard to get to that point. Mariah will be a great fit for the program and with her leadership skills I'm going to wish we had her for more than one year. Elle is fully committed and is running very strong."

Senior Rachel Rant (Boise, Idaho/Boise HS) and junior Lindsay Sheaffer (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS) might be the next two candidates to make up that top five, though several others have the potential to become scoring members of the squad, including senior Stasia Demick (Seattle, Wash./Holy Names Academy), sophomores Chandler Smith (Placentia, Calif./El Dorado HS) and Madelyn Whitaker (Parker, Texas) and freshman Megan Percy (Colorado Springs, Colo./The Classical Academy).

Pepperdine's men figure to show another year of growth, as the Waves once again have zero seniors but do have a great deal of experience. Seven of last year's eight runners from the West Coast Conference Championships are back, and that doesn't include redshirt sophomore Nick Blanchard (Portland, Conn./Portland HS), who might be the team's top runner but missed last cross country season due to injury.

Coupled with four newcomers looking to make a mark, Radnoti believes the men's team will make strong progress.

"I think we're going to surprise some people, and I think we'll be the WCC team that outperforms expectations more than anyone else," he said. "I'm very excited about our men. We have some veteran runners. Everyone came ready to train and that's going to translate well when we start racing."

Blanchard is a team captain along with sophomore Kevin Maeda (Highland, Calif./Citrus Valley HS). Along with freshmen Nick Heath (Scotts Valley, Calif./Scotts Valley HS) and Trevor Sytsma (Renton, Wash./Liberty HS), they are expected to set the pace early, while juniors Ben Fox (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain HS) and Gordie Thomas (Fallbrook, Calif./Great Oak HS) and sophomores Kyle Cajero (Tucson, Ariz./Pusch Ridge Christian Academy), Dan Chiriaev (Campbell, Calif./Prospect HS) and Rudy Gonzalez (Whittier, Calif./California HS) are also among those expected to be in the mix.