Cross Country Runs at UC Riverside on Saturday
9/14/2017 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
MALIBU, California " The Pepperdine men's and women's cross country teams will compete in their second meet of the fall, the UC Riverside Invitational, this Saturday morning.
 | MEET DETAILS |
The meet begins at 7:30 a.m. at the UCR Agricultural Operations Course in Riverside. The top runners will be entered in the Invitational races (women's 6K at 7:30 a.m., men's 8K at 8:05 a.m.), and there will also be Open races (women's 5K at 8:40 a.m. and men's 8K at 9:10 a.m.). Pepperdine plans to have competitors in all four races.
A significant numbers of schools from all levels are expected to compete, including Alabama, Arkansas, Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Fresno State, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, Pacific, Sacramento State, San Diego State, Southern Utah, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and USC from Division I.
| NOTABLES |
- Junior Nick Heath (Scotts Valley, Calif./Scotts Valley HS) is expected to make his season debut on Saturday. Heath holds both school records in cross country (8K and 10K), plus three more records in track (3,000 meters, 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters). He's been Pepperdine's top finisher at 12 of his 13 career cross country events.
- The lone senior on either squad, Kevin Maeda (Highland, Calif./Citrus Valley HS), is also expected to race for the first time this Saturday.
- In their absence, freshman Kyle Johnson (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester HS) was the men's team's top runner at the Pepperdine Invitational, as he came in fifth place overall in a 5K held in Alumni Park on September 1.
- All 11 runners for the men were freshmen or sophomores, and freshmen filled four of the top five spots.
- Nine of the 11 women who competed at the Pepperdine Invitational were freshmen, including the top six runners. Freshman Abbey Meck (Santa Cruz, Calif./San Lorenzo Valley HS) took fifth place to lead the Waves in the 4K.
| QUOTABLES |
Head coach Robert Radnoti says:
"That first meet was just an opportunity to see where everyone was at, and now this meet is more about where our team is at. We've got some excellent competition. It'll be a great test for our young athletes."
| UP NEXT |
The Waves' third of four regular-season meets will take place two weeks later, at the Capital Cross Challenge in Sacramento on September 30.
