Pepperdine University
Westmont/UC Santa Barbara
Outdoor Track Gets off to Good Start at Westmont
2/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track
SANTA BARBARA, California " Gabrielle Ellis won the 100 meters while Izzy Connell and Catie Barilla lowered their own school records, highlighting the Pepperdine track teams' performances at the first outdoor meet of the season on Saturday.
The Waves were competing in a three-team meet with host Westmont and UC Santa Barbara.
"The weather was looking good, then it rained hard, then we had some mist, and midway though the meet the sun came out," Pepperdine Coach Robert Radnoti said. "Their track was really wonderful and we had a good competition. I'm excited about how our first outdoor meet and we're looking forward to the next one in two weeks."
Ellis (Gilbert, Ariz./Highland HS), a senior, ran a personal-best 12.30 to win the women's 100 by two-tenths of a second. It was .04 better than her previous mark. She ranks #2 all-time at Pepperdine in the event.
Connell (Campbell, Calif./The Harker School), a senior, broke her own record in the 400 meters with a time of 57.06, good for second place. She ran 57.61 last year. Barilla (Alta Loma, Calif./Los Osos HS), a sophomore, lowered her mark in the 400 meter hurdles, going from 1:05.69 down to 1:05.19, which was also good for second place.
Other top five-finishes on the women's side came from freshman Talya Holenstein (Portland, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep), who was fourth in the 400 meters in 57.87 seconds (good for #3 all-time at Pepperdine), and freshman Emma Engelland (Gig Harbor, Wash./Gig Harbor HS), who was fifth in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.89 seconds (good for #4 all-time at Pepperdine).
For the men's team, sophomore Nick Heath (Scotts Valley, Calif./Scotts Valley HS) was second in the 3,000 meters, senior Nick Blanchard (Portland, Conn./Portland HS) was second in the mile, freshman Treet Allison (Canyon, Texas/Canyon HS) was third in the 800 and senior Torin Wile (Beverly Hills, Mich./Brother Rice HS) was fifth in the 800.
Others who were the top Pepperdine finishers in various events included freshman Katie O'Malley (San Ramon, Calif./Dougherty Valley HS) in the women's 200, freshman Grace Palmer (Fort Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin HS) in the women's 800, freshman Bri Wilson (Murrieta, Calif./Linfield Christian School) in the women's mile, freshman Samantha Maness (Raleigh, N.C./Broughton HS) in the women's 3,000 and freshman Josh Ortega (Clairemont, Calif./High Tech HS) in the men's 400.
Pepperdine's next meet is at a four-team meet hosted by Riverside City College and also including UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton on March 4.
Players Mentioned
