Azusa, Calif. — Graduate transfer Kennedy Kerr highlighted the Pepperdine track team's regular-season finale by breaking the school record in the 200-meter dash at day two of the APU Last Chance Meet on Saturday.

Later that day, senior Justin Touhey broke into the program's top-10 5K list and Ryan Hemphill won his heat of the 800-meter dash in order to close out the season on a high note.

All told, the Waves ran eight collegiate PRs and three new top-10 performances in Pepperdine history during the two-day meet.

The first session of the day started the Waves on the right foot, as Kerr (West Hempstead, N.Y./Long Island Lutheran) ran a wind-aided 11.67, which would have lowered her previous school record by 15-hundredths of a second. She placed sixth out of 36 runners in the event; three of the five runners ahead of her were professionals. 

But in her next event, she would not be denied.

The grad transfer placed third in her heat of the women's 200-meter dash with a wind-legal 24.27, edging the previous school record by four-hundredths of a second. Kerr, who had set a previous collegiate-best with a 24.39 earlier this season, finally broke through, capping off one of the strongest sprinting months in Pepperdine program history. Over the span of one month, Kerr ran the top four fastest 100-meter dashes at Pepperdine while breaking four-year-old records in the 100 and 200-meter dashes.

The next highlight of the meet came courtesy of Hemphill (Visalia, Calif./Redwood HS) in heat six of the men's 800-meter dash. After going through the first lap in the back of the pack, Hemphill surged with 300 meters to go, then climbed all the way up into the lead at the final turn. The freshman fended off the field and crossed the line in 1:54.53, which was not only the seventh-fastest of the day, but also the fourth-fastest in Pepperdine program history.

Lastly, Touhey (Stony Point, N.Y./Don Bosco Preparatory HS) closed his four-year Pepperdine career on a high note in the second heat of the men's invitational 5K. While the front pack of four runners in his heat threatened to break away in the final mile of the race, Touhey decided to hang on, then erase a 10-meter gap in the late stages of the race. Despite closing the race in a crowded front pack, Touhey finished fifth with a 14:54.36, which ranks ninth all-time at Pepperdine.

THE RUNDOWN

• In the first event for the Waves, senior Brandon Davis (Troy, Mich./Troy HS) finished fourth in his heat of the 400-meter dash with a 50.80. 

• Freshman William Watkins (Mill Valley, Calif./Marin Catholic HS) closed out his season by placing 15th out of 31 runners in the 100-meter dash with an 11.25.

• Fellow freshman Nathaniel Lannen (Southlake, Texas/Carroll HS) made his Pepperdine debut with a 15:50.26 in the 5K. He clawed up to the front pack in the second half of the race, held on to the leaders and used a strong kick in the last lap to finish fourth.

• Junior Riley Wright (Chandler, Ariz./Corona del Sol HS) set a new collegiate PR in the 800 meters with a 2:27.48 — a half-second PR from her previous best set in February 2020.

• In the fastest heat of the men's 5K, junior Kyle McCabe (Westminster, Colo./Holy Family HS) ran a tactical race, made some moves as the race progressed and finished with a 14:41.21.

NEXT UP: The NCAA West Preliminary will be held in College Station, Texas from May 26-29. Junior Karl Winter (Stockton, Calif./Saint Mary's HS) qualified for the 1,500-meter dash earlier this season; he will run the prelims at 6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, May 26.