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Waves Athletics Unveils New Performance Center

Pepperdine student-athletes, coaches, staff, and faculty gathered on the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 2, to take part in the unveiling of the new Athletic Performance Center, a strength and conditioning room that will be specific to the institution's varsity athletic teams. 

The facility, which is part of the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, features brand-new, state-of-the-art strength and conditioning equipment and was created to benefit the ongoing development of Pepperdine student-athletes.

Speakers at the gathering included John Watson, director of athletics; Steve Potts, senior associate director of athletics and student-athlete Miranda Ayim spoke at the gathering and had many people to thank, chiefly President Andrew Benton. Watson credited Benton with providing the one-time funding that allowed the project to proceed.
Benton also spoke to the assembled student-athletes and thanked them for their dedication:

"I don't know how you explain it, really, when you think about a school that is as young as this one, founded in 1937 and we've only been on campus since 1972. How do you explain the number of Olympians we've had? How do you explain the number of national championships we've had? How do you explain the number of conference championships we've had? It's really a remarkable story, and a story that's found in each and every one of you. I know you were recruited and had opportunities to play somewhere else, but you chose Pepperdine. And I'm so proud of that and so grateful for that. How do you explain that we win two-thirds of all athletics contests that we enter, and we play schools that many times larger than we are? The answer is heart and hard work.

"Some thanks have come my way today, but it is I who thank you, for the fact that you decided to compete for Pepperdine, and you're a Wave. I'm so proud of our coaches and our student-athletes. This facility is dedicated to you, the student-athlete."

The existing weight room in Firestone Fieldhouse is also receiving new equipment and will continue to be accessible to the Pepperdine community. Click here to see a photo gallery of the new Waves Athletics facility.