Waves Run Well at Beach Opener to Begin Outdoor Season

Saturday, March 4

Long Beach, Calif.

10:00 a.m. PT

Pepperdine University

Beach Opener

Johnathan Flint

Photo by: Jeff Golden

Waves Run Well at Beach Opener to Begin Outdoor Season

3/4/2023 6:15:00 PM | Track

Full Results

By: by Athletic Communications

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Pepperdine men's and women's track team opened up the outdoor season on Saturday at the Beach Opener. There were multiple top-10 finishes and Johnathan Flint recorded the second fastest men's 3,000 meters.

Flint (Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound HS), a junior, collected an overall fourth-place finish in the men's 3,000 meters in a time of 8:28.17, which is also second on the all-time list. Junior Ryan Hemphill (Visalia, Calif./Redwood HS) also had a fourth-place finish in the men's 800 meters, posting a time of 1:51.39. Hemphill is the current school record holder in the 800m. Freshmen Ryan Fabian (Oxnard, Calif./Oxnard HS) and Spencer Mueller (Fresno, Calif./Clovis North HS) also ran in the men's 800 meters, with Fabian crossing the finish line in a time of 1:54.96, which was good for eighth overall and fifth on the Pepperdine all-time list. Mueller clocked in at 1:55.68 for a ninth-place finish and eighth on the Pepperdine all-time list. Sophomore William Watkins (Mill Valley, Calif./Marin Catholic HS) notched a ninth-place finish in the 200 meters coming in at 22.17. Watkins also competed in the men's 100m with a time of 11.19.

Watkins, Fabian, Hemphill and Mueller were the men that represented the Waves in the 4x400 meter relay posting a time of 3:23.65, which is the second fastest time on the Pepperdine all-time list and good for a sixth-place overall finish. Freshman Kai Newman (Temecula, Calif./Linfield Christian HS) competed in the men's 1,500 meters with a time of 4:09.98.

On the women's side, senior Olivia Miller (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles HS) earned a sixth-place overall finish in the women's 800 meters coming in at 2:20.30. Miller currently sits on the Pepperdine all-time list with a time of 2:20.05 that she notched last season. Miller also ran in the women's 1,500 meters crossing the finish line in a time of 4:49.42. Freshman Jenna Parsio (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro HS) had the squads fastest time in the women's 400 meters with a time of 1:00.18, which was good for a fifth-place overall finish. Freshman Mia Skuraton (Mendham, N.J./Perkiomen School) earned a second-place finish in her heat with a time of 1:02.20 in the 400 meters. Skuraton had Pepperdine's fastest time in the women's 200 meter crossing the line at 26.88.

Sophomore Kaley Peterson (Sunnyvale, Calif./Saint Francis HS) beat her personal record in the women's 100 meter clocking in at 12.16, which was good for seventh overall. Peterson currently still sits fourth on the Pepperdine all-time list with her new time. Senior Skyler Danley (Easton, Pa./Easton Area HS) had Pepperdine's fastest time in the women's 3,000 meters, notching a time of 11:04.96.

The Pepperdine women competed in both the 4x100m and 4x400m. Peterson, Parsio, Reyes and Skuraton had the Waves' best time in the 4x100m crossing the finish line at 49.10. In the final race for the Pepperdine women, freshman Kiley Langford (Visalia, Calif./Redwood HS), sophomore Maddy Ortman (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Valor Christian HS), freshman Kelly Prunzik (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and sophomore Lauren Rocco (Port Orange, Fla./Spruce Creek HS) finished the 4x400m in a time of 4:29.23.

Some of the Pepperdine track runners will be in Fullerton on Friday March, 10 competing at the Ben Brown Invite. On Saturday, March 11 the entire Waves' squad will run in the OXY Distance Carnival and Spring Break Classic.