ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – Caila Tongco broke her own school record in the 60-meter hurdles as the Pepperdine women's indoor track team got its 2019 season started this weekend at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational hosted by New Mexico.
 
Tongco (Kent, Wash./Kent-Meridian HS), a sophomore, ran 9.21 seconds not once but twice on Saturday, recording the same exact time in a qualifying race and in a preliminary race. Her previous record was 9.46 set last year at Boise State.
 
"It was great for team to get started and work out the first-meet jitters," Pepperdine Coach Robert Radnoti said. "The highlight was Caila, she broke her school record by quite a bit in a short race and she did it twice, so that was pretty cool. Everybody else got some good first performances in. We're looking forward to two weeks from now when we're in Boise, Idaho, and it'll be a little bit lower elevation and we'll be a little bit faster."
 
Tongco also had the team's top times in the 60 meters (7.94) and 200 meters (26.40) over the two-day meet.
 
Sophomore Abbey Meck (Santa Cruz, Calif./San Lorenzo Valley HS) took fifth place in the 3,000 meters on Friday in 11:00.43, and she was then the Waves' top performer in the mile (5:29.10) on Saturday.
 
Senior Catie Barilla (Alta Loma, Calif./Los Osos HS) had the team's best time in the 400 meters, as did junior Izabela Garcia-Arce (Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista HS) in the 600. In the 200, Tongco, junior Talya Holenstein (Portland, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep) and freshman Tiffany Egbo (Gilbert, Ariz./Highland HS) each won heats.
 
Pepperdine's next meet is the Jackson's Nike Boise Invitational on February 1-2.