Pepperdine University Athletics

Honors and Awards:
WCC All-Academic honorable mention — 2023, 24
WCC Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Silver) honors — 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24
Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete — 2021-22, 2022-23

PEPPERDINE INDOOR TRACK 2025 (SR): Competed at one indoor track meet ... Ran the mile in 6:08.32 at the Wolf Pack Classic (2/8).

PEPPERDINE XC 2024 (SR): Competed in four races ... Ran her personal-best 4-kilometer time of 16:07.7 at the Waves Invite (8/30) ... Clocked her season-best 6K time of 25:23.7 at the Highlander Invitational (10/19).

PEPPERDINE XC 2023 (JR): Competed in three races ... Was Pepperdine's sixth runner at the LMU South Bay Twilight race (9/1) with her 6-kilometer time of 26:08.4 ... Ran a 20:16.2 5-kilometer time at the UC Riverside Invitational open race (9/16) ... Ran a 24:54.8 6-kilometer time at the Bronco Invitational open race (10/14).

PEPPERDINE INDOOR TRACK 2024 (JR): Competed in two indoor track meets ... Ran a 11:23.26 in the 3,000-meter run at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open (1/19-20) ... Ran a 5:44.40 mile at the MPSF Indoor Championships (2/26).

PEPPERDINE OUTDOOR TRACK 2024 (JR): Competed at seven outdoor track meets, running primarily the 1,500 meters and the 5,000 meters ... Ran a collegiate-best 5K time of 19:48.92 at the Occidental Distance Carnival (3/9) ... Set a personal-best 1,500-meter run time of 5:16.69 at the Triton Invite (4/5-6).

PEPPERDINE XC 2022 (SO): Competed in four of the six races … Had season-best 6K of 25:59.7 at the Bronco Invitational (10/15) … Had a season-best 5K of 21:15.6 at the UC Riverside Invitational (9/17)

PEPPERDINE INDOOR TRACK 2023 (SO): Competed in two of the three indoor meets … Ran in the women’s indoor mile twice, with a season-best time of 6:09.86 at the MPSF Championships (2/17)

PEPPERDINE OUTDOOR TRACK 2023 (SO): Competed in five of the nine meets … Ran mainly in the women’s 1,500 meters ... Had a season-best time of 5:29.88 in the women’s 1,500 meters at the Vince O’Boyle Track and Field Classic (4/1).

PEPPERDINE XC 2021 (FR): Competed in five of the seven races … Had season-best 6K of 24:40.0 at the Bronco Invitational (10/16) … Had a season-best 5K of 20:16.6 at the UC Riverside Invitational (9/18)

PEPPERDINE INDOOR TRACK 2022 (FR): Competed in one indoor meet at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational (2/11-12) … Ran in the women’s 800 meters and earned a time of 2:51.95. 

PEPPERDINE OUTDOOR TRACK 2022 (FR): Competed in seven out of the 10 meets … Ran in three events … Ran the 1,500 meters four times, the 800 meters once (at Beach Opener on 3/5) and the 3,000 meters once (at Triton Invitational on 4/9) … Had a season-best in the 1,500 meters with a time of 5:35.31 (at Cal State LA Twilight Open on 4/14).

HIGH SCHOOL: Graduated from Tomah High School, located in Tomah, Wis., in 2021 … As a senior cross-country runner, became number three on the all-time top 21 for Tomah High School … Received the Tomah Sports Booster Award as a sophomore and senior … Mississippi Valley Conference honorable mention honoree as a sophomore … MVC All-Academic Team all four years of high school … Highest Tomah cross country team finish in conference history in 2019 and 2020 … MVC Track All-Conference Sportsmanship Team as a senior … Helped Tomah track to its highest team finish at conference since 2007 … Lettered one year in gymnastics … Graduated Summa Cum Laude and was a member of National Honor Society.
 
PERSONAL: Born in Eau Claire, Wis. … Daughter of Lenny and Trina Bakken … Sister to Jenna and Faith … Chose Pepperdine because she wanted a completely new experience than what she’s used to for college. “I love that the campus is so close to the beach and that I can grow in my faith while I’m here.”
 
FAVORITES: Hobbies include going to the beach, reading, playing the piano, and traveling … Sports heroes are her dad and high school coach, Jon Heesch … Favorites include The Selection Series (book), Mamma Mia (movie), Full House (TV show), Dua Lipa (musical artist), cheeseburgers (food), and dance (sport besides running) ... Favorite thing about running is that you can always push yourself to do better because there is no limit on how fast you can be.