Pepperdine University
Cal State Northridge/CSU Bakersfield
Heath Wins Season-Opening Men's Cross Country Race
9/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
MALIBU, Calif. -- Freshman Nick Heath came in first place in his college debut to lead the Pepperdine men's cross country team to a dual-race victory over Cal State Northridge on Tuesday afternoon, while Katie Engel and Elle Lemco finished in second and third, respectively, to lead the women.
Both races were contested at Pepperdine's Alumni Park. The men defeated CSUN 19-38 in the season-opening 5k, while Pepperdine's women finished second to CSUN (25-30) but ahead of CSU Bakersfield (17-46) in a 4k.
"I think our Pepperdine cross country course in Alumni Park is quite truthfully the best cross country course in the nation," Pepperdine Coach Robert Radnoti said. "It served as a great location for our first meet of the season."
Heath (Scotts Valley, Calif./Scotts Valley HS) won the 5k with a time of 15:31.68. He was 18 seconds ahead of teammate Nick Blanchard (Portland, Conn./Portland HS), who was second in 15:49.85. The Waves had four of the top five finishers with sophomore Kevin Maeda (Highland, Calif./Citrus Valley HS) in fourth and junior Ben Fox (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain HS) in fifth, while freshman Trevor Sytsma (Renton, Wash./Liberty HS) was the team's fifth scorer with a seventh-place result.
"I'm really excited about our men's team, particularly for our two freshmen," Radnoti said. "Nick Heath was the overall champion and that was really great to see. Trevor Sytsma was our fifth runner, and they're both outstanding individuals and I couldn't be prouder of them both. Nick Blanchard is also coming back strong after being injured last year."
Engel (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima HS), a senior, came in second place in the women's 4k with a time of 14:39.35, while Lemco (San Jose, Calif./Prospect HS), a junior, was third in 15:08.08. Also scoring for the Waves was junior Lindsey Sheaffer (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS) in sixth place, sophomore Chandler Smith (Placentia, Calif./El Dorado HS) in 10th place and freshman Elise Froebe (Lake Forest Park, Wash./Shorecrest HS) in 11th place.
"Katie and Elle ran really strong for us," Radnoti said. "The gal from CSUN that won is a really good runner, and Katie wasn't far away from her. That shows her progress as a competitor."
Next up for the Waves is the San Diego State Aztec Invitational on September 18.
"Our men's team is getting stronger and stronger and we're going to surprise some people," Radnoti said. "Plus the culture for both the men and women is really outstanding as they focus on getting more and more competitive. I'll be excited to see how well we do at our next meet in 2 1/2 weeks down in San Diego."
