Sailing towards some rough competition at Eldon Fix Track in the season’s final event

Track & Field hosts the Northwest Conference Championship this weekend

By Abe Field /// Senior Staff Writer

As the Track & Field team prepares for the Northwest Conference Championship meet this Friday and Saturday, they are all look ing back on a rewarding, successful season together. As one of the largest teams at Lewis & Clark, Track & Field is also one of the most successful, with many of their athletes taking part in this final event.

Many of the athletes on all of the team’s specialization groups have set personal bests in their events this season, and they continue to outperform themselves every week. Not only are the Pioneers breaking their own records, they are also competing well against other schools. Last week at George Fox University, Frances Swanson ’17 placed first in the steeplechase with a time of 12:03:12, beating her opponents by 47 seconds. Kori Groenveld ’18 finished second in the 5,000 meter race with a time of 18:26:69, only five seconds out of first place.

“The best race of my season was the Linfield Invitational, I won the steeplechase and I got a personal record by 15 seconds. This race was against Division I and Division II schools. That was also 12 seconds off of the school record for the steeplechase and that’s the record I’m going for now,” said Groenveld.

Groenveld spoke about her expectations for the upcoming races. She will be the only athlete in the race to take part in two events; the steeplechase, and the 10,000 meter race, where she is ceded second. After placing first in the steeplechase at the Linfield Invitational, Groenveld got a personal record time by 15 seconds, a time of 11:36. That time, she tells me, is 12 seconds away from the school record.

“I’m going to try my hardest to get this record. It’s definitely in reach before I graduate,” Groenveld said.

“I want to run the hardest and most fun races as much as possible. I also qualified for the 5k race but that would mean racing 11 miles in 24 hours on the track and I am not going to do that,” Groenveld said, with a laugh. “We have a great team environment this year; a lot of great team environment. We’re tough competitors, but we also have a lot of fun.”

Groenveld is not the only Pio to cede high in the NWC Championship. Blake Slattengren ’18 is ceded third in the 5K  and second in the 10K race, Jeff Mullins ’18 will race in the 1500 meter dash and Frances Swanson is ceded third in the 1500 meter dash.

The Championship meet will begin at 9:30 a.m. with throwing events and goes until 8:35 p.m. for qualifying trials. Saturday will be the main day for the Championship meet, starting at 10:30 a.m. with throwing and jumping events and goes until 3:30 p.m., when the award ceremony starts. This will be the last track meet of the season, so it is a great opportunity for students to come out and support our Track & Field team.