Azusa, Calif. — Grad transfer
Kennedy Kerr set the school record in the 100-meter dash with a 11.91 and placed fourth overall to highlight an action-packed day for the Pepperdine track team at the APU Invitational and Distance Carnival on Saturday.
In only her third crack at the 100 meters in a Pepperdine uniform, Kerr (West Hempstead, N.Y./Long Island Lutheran) smashed her own personal best of 12.07 and edged out the 11.95 Izzy Connell ran at the Riverside Community College Invitational on March 4, 2017.
Additionally, Kerr's 24.68 in the 200-meter dash nearly broke Connell's record of 24.31, which was also set in 2017. Kerr's time ranks second all-time at Pepperdine, and was good for seventh overall at the meet.
As a team, the Waves ran plenty of new personal bests across the board.
THE RUNDOWN
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Senior Preston Gromer (Casper, Wyo./Kelly Walsh HS) went under 15 minutes and won his heat in the men's 5K with a 14:57.06. His previous best was a 15:24.49, which he ran as a freshman in 2018. Gromer's time was the 14th-fastest of the night.
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In the same race, freshman Johnathan Flint (Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound HS) ran a 15:24.48 — good for third place in the heat.
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Annelies Ondersma (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./University Liggett School) led the Waves once again in the 1,500 meters with a 4:59.15 — the first time she's broken five minutes in the event. Freshman Skylar Davis (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Arts Academy) was close behind with a 4:59.74. The teammates finished sixth and ninth, respectively in the same heat.
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Freshman William Watkins (Mill Valley, Calif./Marin Catholic HS) ran an 11.18 in the 100-meter dash, which was nearly eight-tenths of a second faster than his previous collegiate 100-meter time. He also PRed in the 200-meter dash with a 22.43, good for 10th place at the meet. He was the fifth-fastest freshman in the event.
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In total, Pepperdine had four runners go under 16 in the 5,000-meter run: Justin Touhey (Stony Point, N.Y./Don Bosco Preparatory HS) ran a 15:19.92, plus Tim Wells (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS) finished in a 15:44.18.
NEXT UP: Pepperdine will return to Azusa Pacific for the Franson Classic and Multi-Invitational on April 9-10. Start times have yet to be determined.
FOLLOW: Follow @PeppXCTrack on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to PepperdineWaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
