Pepperdine Distance Runners Open Competition at Beach Invitational

LONG BEACH, Calif. – In her final college event, senior Katie Engel of the Pepperdine track team took first place in her heat of the women’s 5,000 meters on Friday at the Beach Invitational.

Engel ran 17:38.08 to beat the other 17 competitors in the race. Combining the two heats, she came in 12th place overall out of 34 runners. A four-year standout, Engel had been Pepperdine’s top cross country runner the past three years and holds the school track records in the mile and 10,000 meters.

Freshman Nick Heath (Scotts Valley, Calif./Scotts Valley HS) wrapped up a brilliant first year at
Pepperdine with a third-place finish in the men’s 5,000 meters. With a time of 14:41.57, he was just a half-second off his own school record. Heath, who was the top men’s cross country runner in the fall, set school records in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters this spring.

Also in the men’s 5,000, sophomore Kevin Maeda (Highland, Calif./Citrus Valley HS) and junior Ben Fox (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain HS) finished third and fourth, respectively, in their heat and 12th and 13th overall out of 32 runners.

Law student Mariah Gondeiro (Raynesford, Mont./Belt HS/Rocky Mountain College) ran 11:29.69 in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, just a half-second off her season best, to finish 12th.

The Beach Invitational, which is Pepperdine’s season finale, continues on Saturday with the Waves’ sprinters and middle-distance runners.