Photo Gallery

Results

MALIBU, California -- Freshmen Abbey Meck and Kyle Johnson of the Pepperdine women's and men's cross country teams both posted fifth-place finishes in their first-ever college meet as the season-opening Pepperdine Invitational was held in Alumni Park on an extremely hot Friday afternoon.

A few of the Waves' top runners did not compete, but the men still won two of their three head-to-head matchups, while the women won three out of five.

The Waves' few veterans were among those not to run, as the combined 21 men's and women's runners were all freshmen and sophomores.

RESULTS

• Men: defeated CSUN (27-28), defeated Long Beach State (22-33), lost to UC Irvine (18-38).
  
• Women: defeated CSU Bakersfield (22-37), defeated CSUN (23-34), defeated USC (24-31), lost to Long Beach State (21-34), lost to UC Irvine (26-29).

WOMEN'S 4K LEADERS

• Freshman Abbey Meck (Santa Cruz, Calif./San Lorenzo Valley HS), 5th place, 15:04.90
  
• Freshman Lindsay Sanger (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson HS), 10th place, 15:34.29
  
• Freshman Emma Battin (Saint Charles, Ill./Saint Charles East HS), 12th place, 15:45.04
  
• Freshman Cassidy Aberson (Vacaville, Calif./Vacaville HS), 22nd place, 16:17.55
  
• Freshman Amanda Stahl (Clinton, Mass./Advanced Math & Science Academy), 23rd place, 16:19.76

MEN'S 5K LEADERS

• Freshman Kyle Johnson (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester HS), 5th place, 15:59.86
  
• Freshman Justin Touhey (Stony Point, N.Y./Don Bosco Preparatory HS), 8th place, 16:08.09
  
• Freshman Tim Wells (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS), 11th place, 16:16.60
  
• Sophomore Jalen Frantal (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville Central HS), 15th place, 16:29.48
  
• Freshman Preston Gromer (Casper, Wyo./Kelly Walsh HS), 18th place, 16:39.89

QUOTABLES

Here are post-race interviews with Robert Radnoti, Kyle Johnson and Abbey Meck:

HIGHLIGHTS

UP NEXT

The Waves' second of four regular-season meets will take place in two weeks at the UC Riverside Invitational on Sept. 16.