MALIBU, Calif. (Aug. 29, 2025) – The Moorpark College men's and women's cross country teams opened up their respective 2025 seasons at the Pepperdine University Waves Invitational on Friday. The field was stacked with highly competitive Division I programs including the University of California, Santa Barbara, Long Beach State, California State University, Northridge and host Pepperdine.  

The Lady Raiders were led by sophomore Maya Natarajan who ran the 4K race in a time of 13:46.7 to place 5^th overall. Another outstanding performance for the Lady Raiders was Natalia Beltran, a MC sophomore who clocked a 16:28.8. As a team, the Raiders placed sixth in a competitive field.  

On the men's side, the top Raiders finisher was sophomore Tommy White whose 6K time of 18:42.9 was good for ninth place overall. Another standout performance for MC in the season opener came from sophomore Angel Garcia who completed the course in a time of 20:16.1. Overall, the Raiders placed fifth behind four DI programs. 

Representing the Raiders for the first time were freshmen Ava Sanders (16:16) and Dulce Godinez (16:26.5) on the women's side and Trent Williams (19:21.3), Russell Benner (21:25.0), Skyler Fong (21:50.7), Theo Shniderman (22:01.4), Ethan Miller (22:45.7), Andres Uribe (22:46.6) and Ethan Tobi (25:51.8) for the men.

Moorpark cross country teams will line up for their next races on Friday, Sept. 12 at the WSC Preview meet, which will take place at Arroyo Verde Park. The women's race will begin at 10:00 a.m. while the men's gun will sound at 11:00 a.m.

Results: Women's 4K
Results: Men's 6K