MALIBU, Calif. – On Friday, August 29, Pepperdine cross country will host the annual Waves Invite, doubling as the team's first race of the 2025 season. The event will take place at Alumni Park on the campus of Pepperdine University.
The men's team will kick-off the competition at 5 p.m. with a 6K. The women's team will follow suit at 5:45 with a 4K.
The Waves will be joined by competitors from CSUN, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Bakersfield, Long Beach State, Los Angeles Mission College, Moorpark College, and Cerro Coso College.
The first 100 fans in attendance will receive a complimentary cowbell to help cheer on the Waves.
Live Results will be available on FinishedResults.com for those unable to attend in person.
Since last competing in a cross country race this past November, the coaching staff and student athletes have gained plenty of valuable and new experiences.
As head coach Lauren Floris puts it, "Our teams had a great summer of training and are ready to show off their fitness on Friday. I'm looking forward to it. It's always exciting to open the season in front of a home crowd and I know our kids are going to rip it!"
This season the blue and orange look to make a mark in what should be a competitive WCC.
The cross country team returns a bulk of their talent from last season. Among those are junior Lizzy Crawford. The Colorado native hopes to build upon her outstanding first two seasons. She turned in a top-100 finish as a lead runner at NCAA Regionals. Further, the talented Wave strung together a streak as the team's top finisher for an impressive 11 meets across the cross country and track campaign.
On the men's side another Colorado native hopes to lead the way. Gordy Nilsen returns after spending last season as the team's lead runner. Alongside Patrick Thomas, the two hope to improve off of their sub-35th placements in the WCC's 8K course.
Sophomore Grace Simpson helps to spearhead the youth movement. She came into her own at the end of last season, scoring at the WCC Championships and providing valuable representation at regionals.
Dominic Silhol demonstrated great improvement last year. As a sophomore, he turned in a 25:27.4 time during the WCC 8K – 19 seconds better than the clip he ran at the Pacific Invitational. He also excelled in the 10K, now sitting in 13th place on the Pepperdine all-time leaderboard.
Floris and co. have added a handful of newcomers to their batch of runners. The three new faces on campus are comprised of two freshmen and a graduate student – all on the men's side.
Micah Brighton hails from Maui, Hawaii where he won a high school state title in 2024. A stat of note is his 9:18.87 in the 3,000 meters.
The other freshman is Beckett Sullivan. A salutatorian out of Riverside Polytechnic High School in Riverside, Calif., he contributed to four cross country league championships and holds numerous school records.
Lastly is Parker Buchheit who joins the Waves as a graduate student. He transfers in from Georgia Tech, where he was a member of their track and field team from 2021-2025. During the 2025 indoor season, his time of 1:19.41 placed second in the 600 meters at the Clemson Opener (Dec. 6).
Pepperdine returns to action at Ted Craig Regional Park in Fullerton, Calif. for a meet hosted by Biola University on Friday, Sept. 12.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE CROSS COUNTRY/TRACK
The Pepperdine cross country/track program has a rich history dating back to the 1950s with six total individual national championships to come through the program. As one of the original three programs sponsored by then George Pepperdine College in 1937, the Waves immediately began to make a mark on the track world stage with eight total Olympians and multiple regional champions throughout the program's history.
FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine cross country/track news, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineXCTR.
