Pepperdine track squads record speedy finishes at meets

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Waves track and field athlete Ryan Fabian, a freshman, finished the men’s 800 fifth overall in time of 1:53.25 at the Oxy Distance Carnival and Spring Break Classic. Photo by Jeff Golden.

The Pepperdine Waves men’s and women’s track teams registered nine top-10 finishes in two meets last weekend. 

Men’s runners Johnathan Flint, Ryan Fabian, William Watkins, and Spencer Mueller placed top finishes in their individual races, while women’s competitors Jena Parsio, Kaley Peterson, and Olivia Miller did the same. 

Additionally, the women’s 4×100 foursome and 4×400 group had top placements. The speedy performances took place at the AstroAl Distance Classic at Cal State Fullerton on March 10 and the Oxy Distance Carnival and Spring Break Classic at Occidental College the next day. 

The first event featured teams from over a dozen schools such as Army West Point, Canyons, and CSU Bakersfield. Teams from programs such as Adams State, Cal Poly, Cal Lutheran, Concordia, and Chapman hit the track in the second event. 

Flint, a junior, ran the men’s 10,000 meters in 30:26.81. That placed him ninth overall and moved him from fourth to second on Pepperdine’s all-time list. 

Fabian, a freshman, finished the men’s 800 fifth overall in time of 1:53.25 at the Oxy Distance Carnival and Spring Break Classic. That time jumped him from fifth to third on the Waves’ all-time list. 

Parsio, a freshman, ran the women’s 400 in 1:01.20, a fourth-place finish, and the junior Watkins finished the men’s 400 in 50.56, a sixth-place performance. The freshman Mueller’s time of 1:55.75 in the men’s 800 earned him a ninth-place finish.

The women’s 4×100 team — Parsio, Peterson, freshman Isabella Reyes, and freshman Mia Skuraton — finished third in their event, a time of 48.90. The women’s 4×400 group — sophomore Whitney Johnson, Peterson, Parsio, and Skuraton — ran their race in 1:55.75, which placed them second. 

Additionally, at the AstroAI Distance Classic, graduate student Will Bullock finished the men’s 10,000 in 32:41.42.

Senior Skyler Danley finished the women’s 5,000 in 18:20.78 at the Oxy Distance Carnival and Spring Break Classic. That time was a new personal record and kept her at 10th on Pepperdine’s all-time list. 

Sophomore Kira Graves finished the women’s 800 in 2:27.15 and junior Ryan Hemphill finished the men’s 1,500 in 4:02.66. Freshman Patrick Thomas finished the men’s 5,000 in 15:11.85. 

The Waves will compete at the Bob Larsen Distance Invitational on Friday and Saturday at UCLA. They will run at the Vince O’Boyle Track and Field Classic at UC Irvine on April 1.