SUNNYVALE, California – The Pepperdine men's cross country team continued what's shaping up to be the best season in program history with more record-breaking performances on Saturday at the Bronco Invitational, as Nick Heath lowered his school record in the 8K and Kyle Johnson and Karl Winter moved up to #2 and #3 on the all-time list.
 
The men's team finished second among Division I teams and third overall, which included victories over West Coast Conference rivals Loyola Marymount and Saint Mary's. The Waves entered the West Region rankings for the first time in program history last week at #13. One of the other teams they beat today was #15 Idaho.
 
Heath lowered his school record by nearly three seconds with his eighth-place finish in 24:03.9, but he wasn't the only standout. In fact, the Waves' top nine men's runners all set PRs and all nine now rank among the top 15 8K runners in program history. In addition to Johnson and Winter at #2 and #3, the others who moved up were Justin Touhey (sixth), Preston Gromer (seventh), Jackson Felkins (ninth), Jalen Frantal (tied for 10th), Tim Wells (13th) and Adam Fahey (15th).
 
On the women's side, Abbey Meck led the Waves for the 10th time in 10 career races, and her personal-best time of 21:36.9 moved her up to fifth on the program's all-time 6K list. Also, Caroline Archer (11th) and Shelby White (13th) moved into the top 20 with their times.
 
MEN'S 8K LEADERS
 

• Senior Nick Heath (Scotts Valley, Calif./Scotts Valley HS) 8th place, 24:03.9 (PR)
• Sophomore Kyle Johnson (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester HS) 10th place, 24:06.8 (PR)
• Freshman Karl Winter (Stockton, Calif./Saint Mary's HS) 18th place, 24:17.3 (PR)
• Sophomore Justin Touhey (Stony Point, N.Y./Don Bosco Preparatory HS) 45th place, 24:43.5 (PR)
• Sophomore Preston Gromer (Casper, Wyo./Kelly Walsh HS) 48th place, 24:44.4 (PR)

 
WOMEN'S 6K LEADERS
 

• Sophomore Abbey Meck (Santa Cruz, Calif./San Lorenzo Valley HS) 57th place, 21:36.9 (PR)
• Sophomore Caroline Archer (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood Academy) 132nd place, 22:19.4 (PR)
• Freshman Shelby White (San Antonio, Texas/Winston Churchill HS) 135th place, 22:21.5 (PR)
• Sophomore Cori Persinger (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit West HS) 168th place, 23:00.3 (PR)
• Sophomore Lindsay Sanger (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson HS) 172nd place, 23:05.1

 
QUOTABLE
 
Pepperdine Coach Robert Radnoti said: "It was just a tremendous effort by everyone on the team today. I'm really proud of what everybody's been able to do and how far they've come. We had great running conditions, it was perfect. It's a very flat course but it's an accurate 8K and 6K, so I feel really good about our times today because they were so much faster than previous years.
 
"On the men's team, nearly everybody PR'd, some by a lot. Our top five averaged 24:23, which is faster than our previous second-fastest time ever by an individual. We had six guys 24:50 or better, which really speaks well for them. We're really primed and pumped for an incredible ending in the championship part of the season. We had some tremendous performances by our women too, most everyone PR'd, and I'm really excited about the progress they are making.
 
"I have to attribute this to our really great coaching staff that we've been able to assemble this year. The team, the coaching staff, I'm really proud of them. A lot of parents came today too and we really appreciate the support."
 
UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine's next meet is the WCC Championships, hosted by BYU on Saturday, October 27.