Pepperdine University Athletics

ACADEMIC AWARDS: WCC All-Academic honorable mention in fall 2018, 2019 and 2020-21 ... WCC Commissioner's Honor Roll "bronze" honors in 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 ... Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete in 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21.
 
PEPPERDINE XC 2020-21 (SR): Was Pepperdine’s #4 runner in the only race of the season at the WCC Championships (2/24) ... Ran the 8K course in 25:34.9.
 
PEPPERDINE XC 2019 (JR): Competed in five of the six meets and was in the Waves’ top five for all of them ... Had a season-best 8K of 25:16.5 at the Bronco Invitational (10/19).
 
PEPPERDINE XC 2018 (SO): Ran at all six events and finished in the Waves’ top five in five of them ... Was the #4 runner at the WCC Championships (10/27) ... Was the #5 runner at the NCAA West Regional, and his time of 32:01.7 put him at #8 on the Waves’ all-time 10K list ... Season-best 8K of 24:44.4 at the Bronco Invitational (10/13), which put him at #7 on the Waves’ all-time list.
 
PEPPERDINE XC 2017 (FR): Competed at all six meets ... Was Pepperdine's #4 runner at the WCC Championships (10/27), where he had a season-best 26:11.1 in the 8K ... Was Pepperdine's #5 runner three times, including at the NCAA West Regional (11/10), where his time of 32:40.1 put him at #10 all-time on the school's 10K list.
 
PEPPERDINE TRACK 2021 (SR): Finished his collegiate career ranked in Pepperdine’s top-10 for the 5,000 (#10) ... Competed at seven of the eight regular-season meets ... Competed in three events, but focused on the 1,500 and the 5,000 ... Ran the 1,500 meters three times, including a personal-best of 4:02.57 at Azusa Pacific (5/14) ... Also ran a personal best in the 5,000 with a 14:57.06 at Azusa Pacific (4/3), moving him to #10 on the program’s all-time leaderboard ... Raced the 800 meters once at Westmont (3/27).
 
PEPPERDINE TRACK 2020 (JR): Ran at both outdoor meets before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic ... Had the team’s second-best time of the season in the 1,500 meters (4:02.92 at Long Beach on 3/7) and also ran the 800 and 3,000.
 
PEPPERDINE TRACK 2019 (SO): Took part in eight of 10 meets ... Competed in everything from the 800 to the 5,000 once again ... Had the team’s third-best time in the mile (4:25.59 at UCLA on 3/29) ... Had other bests of 1:59.67 in the 800 at the Beach Invitational (4.19), 4:05.47 in the 1,500 at UC San Diego (4/13), 8:58.14 in the 3,000 at UC Irvine (3/16) and 15:38.44 in the 5,000 at the Ben Brown Invitational (3/9).
 
PEPPERDINE TRACK 2018 (FR): Ran at eight of nine meets ... Was part of a school-record 4x400 relay team ... Ran the 800, 1,500, mile, 3,000 and 5,000 ... Saw his most races in the 800 (best of 2:02.63 at Cal Poly on 3/24) and the 5,000 (best of 15:24.49 at UC San Diego on 4/14).
 
HIGH SCHOOL: Graduated from Kelly Walsh High School, located in Casper, Wyo., in 2017 ... Ran four years of varsity track and two of cross country ... Earned all-state honors in both sports as a senior ... Was all-conference in cross country as a junior and senior ... Part of a state-record 4x200 indoor relay team ... Track team won the 2016 state title.
 
PERSONAL: Majoring in economics ... Born in Sycamore, Ill. ... Son of Scott and Janel Gromer ... Has four siblings: Michaela, Austin, Hayden and Brandon ... Brother, Austin, also runs on the Pepperdine men's cross country and track teams ... Chose to attend Pepperdine because it "combines a great small-university environment with all the resources of a large one. I think it will provide me with the background knowledge and experience to fulfill a life of service."
 
FAVORITES: Enjoys hiking and snowboarding ... Favorites include Emma Coburn (pro athlete), Chicago Cubs (pro sports team), The Alchemist (book), Forrest Gump (movie), House of Cards (TV show), Zac Brown Band (musical artist), bratwurst (food) and snowboarding (sport other than running) ... Favorite thing about running is "it doesn't require much hand-eye coordination."