Winter's Back to Back Historic Season Ends at Day 3 of NCAA West Prelims

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – After advancing to the quarterfinals in the men's 1,500 meters and running in the semifinals of the 5,000 meters at the NCAA West Preliminary rounds, senior Pepperdine track runner Karl Winter's second consecutive historic season unfortunately came to an end on Friday night at John McDonnell Field.

Winter's (Stockton, Calif./Saint Mary's HS) first race of day three was the men's 1,500 meters. With sunny, hot and humid conditions, Winter collected a 10th-place finish in his heat in a time of 3:44.64, which placed him 18th on the overall scoresheet. Winter was neck and neck through the first two laps, and then it was a fight to the finish on the bell lap to notch a top-five automatic qualifying time.

Following the first race, Winter had almost three hours to cool down and rejuvenate for the second race of the day, the men's 5,000 semifinals. Right off the get-go, Winter led the first curve and kept pace, taking each lap around 62 to 63 seconds. Coming down to the halfway mark in the race, Winter kept a smart pace and ran his race while the others fought on the last bell lap for the qualifying times. Winter crossed the finish line in a time of 14:43.53, for 22nd in his heat and 42nd overall.

"In all honesty, it really hurts to miss qualifying for nationals, that was my goal this season and I believed I had a good shot to do it today," said Winter. "That said, I'm proud to have represented the Waves at the NCAA West Prelims for the last two years, we made it further this year than last year, qualified to the meet in two events instead of one, and had two athletes qualify for the meet (Ryan Hemphill qualified in the 800 meters, but opted to study abroad, and has two more years at Pepp to do it again). That improvement is a testament to Coach Lauren, Coach Victor, and my teammates who helped get me this far by believing in me and pushing me in practice. We're building a culture of winning, and there's so much more to come for this program. Even though I didn't produce my best today, I'm so grateful for my time at Pepperdine. I'll never forget it, forever a Wave."

Winter finished his final race in a Pepperdine uniform with a phenomenal Waves campaign both on and off the track. He holds the Pepperdine records in the 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 meters as well as has the second-fastest time in the 800 meters. Winter is also a part of the 4x800 meter relay team that notched a new school record this season as well as a part of the distance medley relay team that ran the event for the first time this season earning a new school record. Winter is also the second-fastest all-time in the men's 8K and the fifth-fastest all-time in the 10K in cross country.

"I am so proud of Karl, he had an incredibly successful year and ran well this week in all three of his races," said head coach Lauren Floris. "Over and over throughout his career he has broken barriers for our program and for years to come Waves cross country and track will be better because of the impact he had here. It's been a pleasure to coach him this year and I'm going to miss him so much!"

"We are extremely proud of what Karl has accomplished, not just this weekend, but throughout his career at Pepperdine," said assistant coach Victor Pataky. "He has been an integral part of developing a fantastic team culture through his leadership and performances."

Winter's Back to Back Historic Season Ends at Day 3 of NCAA West Prelims

Players Mentioned

Ryan Hemphill

Karl Winter

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