COLLEGE STATION, Texas. — Running under the sweltering Texas heat and a blanket of humidity, junior Pepperdine track runner Karl Winter placed ninth in the first heat of the 1,500-meter dash at the NCAA West Preliminary on Wednesday.
Winter (Stockton, Calif./St. Mary's HS) placed 33rd-overall in the event with a 3:48.71, putting him outside the top 24 runners that moved on to Friday's quarterfinal race. He ends this season holding school records in the 800, 1,500 and 5,000 meters, plus the distinction of being the first Pepperdine track athlete to qualify for the postseason since 1969.
"We're really proud of Karl and all of the hard work he's done this season," Associate Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator and interim track coach Amanda Kurtz said. "We're proud of all of our track student-athletes because it was not an easy season by any means with COVID and a coaching change in the middle. So I'm really proud of all of them — and especially proud of Karl for making history. We look forward to next year and having a lot more of our athletes here."
"It was exciting to be able to represent Pepperdine, since it's been a long time since anyone from Pepperdine has made it to the NCAA postseason," Winter added. "I knew that my teammates, the athletic department and the school were behind me. It was nice to also have some family and friends to travel out to watch this race."
The leaders took out the first 300 meters in 44.47 seconds, but Winter was close behind with a 44.81-second split. The junior kept pace in the next 400 meters, jockeying for position on the outside of lane one and finishing the first 800 meters in around two minutes flat.
"I came in expecting to make it to Friday, so I put myself up front, established myself in the race and tried to win the heat," Winter said. "I couldn't race for fifth place; I had to race to win."
Then the runners surged.
After going through the second lap in around 62 seconds, Winter and the rest of the group negative-split the third lap. Ten of the dozen runners clocked around a 59-second 1,100-meter split, building the momentum into a decisive bell lap.
The race was up for grabs until the bell lap, when four runners gained some separation on the backstretch. Winter kept pace, yet the crowded middle pack prevented any big finishes at the home stretch.
"It doesn't really come down to who has the fastest personal best in the field," Winter said of the tactical nature of the preliminaries. "It comes down to who makes the right moves at the right times. I'll take that experience going into next year and hopefully make it back here to the NCAA West Preliminary. I think the experience of competing in a tactical race will be good for me going into the future."
Despite how the heat sheet initially stacked up, Winter's heat ended up being the fastest of the day. The top five times in the prelims came from the first heat; sixth-place Dustin Nading of Washington was the final at-large qualifier with a 3:46.01. The top 24 finishers for Friday's quarterfinals were separated by 2.67 seconds in the prelims.
For now, Winter will refocus on the offseason, training for next fall's cross-country season and establishing new personal expectations for the 2021-22 running seasons.
"I think next year, it will be more of an expectation to make it to the NCAA West Preliminary in either the 1,500, the 5K or both," Winter said. "Next year I'll have more of an expectation to get this far, and to figure out how to qualify beyond it. But this year, it's exciting to be here and get the experience. If I had made it further, that would've been a bonus."
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