With nationals drawing closer, seven Linfield track athletes competed April 27 at Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore., in the Titan Twilight.

On the men’s side, senior Eric Weinbender finished second in the 1,500-meter run, crossing the finish line in four minutes, 2.31 seconds. In mid-distance, freshman Colin Nelson took third in the 400, finishing 50.70.

For the women, junior Melany Crocker was runner-up in the 100, finishing at 12.59, and placed third in the 200 with a time of 26.18.

Freshman Audrey Lichten managed to shave a full five seconds off her career-best time in the 800, finishing fifth in 2:19.05.

Seniors Catherine Street and Misty Corwin finished 1-2 in the pole vault, with Street clearing the bar at 13 feet, 1 inch and Corwin achieving a season-best at 11 feet, 7¼ inches.

Head coach Travis Olson said he is optimistic about the upcoming meets.

“I feel like the season has gone very well. I certainly expect [Street] to contend for a national title,” Olson said.

In other field events, sophomore Anna LaBeaume won the hammer throw with a heave of 151 feet, 9 inches and also placed third in the shot put with a throw of 36 feet, 2.75 inches.

“I am really proud with the way the team competed this year,” Olson said. “They really worked hard and I feel like it has paid off.”

In the end, the meet was scored with the Linfield women taking fifth of 10 teams and the Wildcat men finishing sixth of nine.

The Wildcats will host the Linfield Twilight on May 4 at Maxwell Field.

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Caleb Goad/Staff writer
Caleb Goad can be reached  at  linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Linfield may see one of its own in the Olympics one day. Senior Catherine Street, a pole vaulter on the track and field team, holds the all-time NCAA Division-III outdoor record and has won the conference title four years in a row.

On April 20 at the Northwest Conference Championships, Street cleared the bar at 13 feet 9 3/4 inches, setting a new Division-III record.

Street began her athletic career as a gymnast, but stopped before high school.

“I knew I wanted to go out for track my freshman year, but I had bronchitis and couldn’t run,” Street said. “When my high school head coach found out I was a gymnast, he stuck a pole in my hand and the rest is history.”

In college, Street has had to learn to balance pole vaulting with her education. Street hasn’t been able to train with the team the last couple of years because she is at Linfield’s nursing campus in Portland.

“I’m lucky that I get to vault with my club coaches while I’ve been at the Portland campus,” Street said.

Street has had to find time to train around working 12 hour shifts at the Randall Children’s Hospital for her senior practicum. Her training consists of pole vault technique, sprints, gymnastics work and weight training.

While Street has to work hard, she said she loves everything about the sport.

“The thing I love most about pole vault is the moment of free falling after you’ve cleared a big bar, and you know you’ve made it,” Street said. “Best feeling in the world.”

Along the way, Street has had some fierce competitors to contend with. Abby Schaffer from Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa., is one of Street’s biggest rivals. The two will get the opportunity to face off in the NCAA Division-III Outdoor Championships in Claremount, Calif., starting May 24.

“Schaffer and I have been going back and forth on the national level,” Street said. “She always brings it at big meets.”

Street also respects fellow Linfield pole vaulter, senior Misty Corwin, as a competitor.

“She’s had some bad luck this season so far, but give her one good day and we are going to have two Linfield vaulters over 4.00 meters this year,” Street said.

Street has been lucky to have people to help hone her talents in the sport. At Linfield, she has received help in the mental realm of the sport.

“Vaulting is 90 percent psychological,” Street said. “At Linfield, I have had a lot of support from my coaches.”

Street has improved physically in the sport as well.

“I think she’s gotten faster,”  said Travis Olson, the track and field head coach. “She’s always been pretty sound on her technique, but you also have to be fast.”

After graduating in the spring, Street plans to continue her pole vaulting career. This time, she is setting her sights higher than a Division-III record: the Olympics.

“I hope to qualify for the Olympic Trials, but that’s not where I’m going to stop,”  Street said. “I hope to find a job close by so I can keep training and become an elite vaulter. I love vaulting too much to stop after my Linfield career is over.”

Street has set her sights on big goals, but with her impressive work ethic, we just may see Street compete in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

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Meghan O’Rourke/Opinion editor
Meghan O’Rourke can be reached at linfieldreviewopinion@gmail.com.

After two days of events on April 20 and 21 at the Pacific Lutheran Track & Field Facility in Parkland, Wash., the NWC Championships drew to a close, and the Wildcats proved that they were a team that had to be respected throughout the entire competition.

Leading the way for the Wildcats on the first day of the Championships was senior All-American Catherine Street. In the pole vault, Street cleared a bar of 13 feet, 9.75 inches to win her fourth straight conference title. Street left the competition in the dust; she beat the runner-up by 3 feet and the previous conference record by 1.5 inches. By doing this, she also set the all-time Division III outdoor record for the pole vault.

Street was not the only person who had success at the competition. The Linfield Track and Field team entered the NWC Championships with a lot of confidence. Although they were not favored to win, the men’s and women’s teams finished in fourth and third place, respectively. They believed they could represent Linfield in a more impressive fashion than had been done in a few years, and they accomplished that goal in fine fashion.

On the women’s side, sophomore Anna LaBeaume defended her NWC shot put title with a toss of 42 feet, 9 inches. She also threw a career best in the hammer and won the event in the process, with a throw of 46.59 meters.

The standout 4×100 relay team of junior Melany Crocker, freshman Halsie Peek, senior Misty Corwin and Street won their race with a school record time of 48.61 seconds.

Crocker added to her relay victory with a second place finish in the 100-yard dash with a time of 12.60, and a third place finish in the 200. Her 200 time of 25.10 was the second-fastest in Linfield history.

Other female victories for the Linfield team included junior Shanna Peaden,who took second in the 10,000-meter with a time of 38 minutes, 43.28 seconds. Junior Nelly Evans also took second in her 800-meter race, just barely missing out on first place with a time of 2:18.95.

On the men’s side, the distance runners had success on both days of the competition. Junior Scott Gage, senior Arian Anderson and sophomore Joe Gladow finished second, fifth and seventh, respectively in the 10,000. Gage ran with a time of 31:51.48, Anderson with a career-best 33:01.55 and Gladow with a 33:10.64. Senior Alex Van Slyke placed third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a career-best time of 9:32.25.

Gage, Van Slyke and Gladow also impressed in the 5,000 on day two. Finishing fourth, fifth and sixth. Gage ran a 15:31.45, Van Slyke a 15:32.94 and Gladow a 15:36.22.

The two-lap race also showcased three Linfield runners.

Juniors Lester Maxwell and Lucian Battaglia, along with senior Eric Weinbender, grabbed third, fourth and sixth place by the horns. Maxwell ran a 1:56.88, Battaglia posted a 1:56.94 and Weinbender a 1:57.73. Weinbender also added a fourth place finish in the 1,500 with a time of 4:00.78.

A few more running successes were the 4×100 relay team of senior Clayton Cooper, freshman Colin Nelson, junior Jason Cheyne and sophomore Nick Turner, who took second place with a time of 43.36. Cooper, Battaglia, Maxwell and Nelson also finished fourth as a team in the 4×400 relay with a season-best time of 3:23.24.

Nelson continued his busy day with a career best time of 50.10 in the 400, which was good enough for fourth place. Sophomore Michael Madden and senior Barrett Zetterberg finished third and fourth, respectively in the 400 hurdles with times of 57.02 and 57.43.

The success of the Linfield team was mainly because of the outstanding efforts from athletes who had been here before. Freshman Calvin Howell, who competed in the 10,000-meter run, talked about the inspiring performances of his older teammates.

“Seeing the older athletes dominate the competition inspires me to work hard and try to be as successful as them in the future. They are role models.”

As the championships end, these role models enter competitions to try and qualify for the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships begin. The first test for Linfield athletes comes at the Lane Twilight in Eugene, Ore., at 3 p.m. on April 27. If we learned anything else about the team this weekend, the Linfield athletes will show their mettle in many areas of the competition.

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Tyler Bradley/Staff writer
Tyler Bradley can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

The final regular season event for the Linfield track and field team finished with great success April 14 at the Pacific University Luau at Lincoln Park Stadium.

Approximately 14 Wildcats posted season-best times on the day, which bodes well for the upcoming NWC Conference Championships on April 20 and 21.

The event that exemplified the excellence of the track team on April 14 was the 800-meter run. Junior Nelly Evans smoked the competition on the women’s side with the eighth-fastest time in Linfield history (2:18.88).

On the men’s side, junior Lester Maxwell won the event with a season-best time of 1:56.35, and his two teammates finished off a 1-2-3 Linfield finish. Junior Lucian Battaglia nabbed second with a time of 1:56.84 and senior Eric Weinbender grabbed third place with a time of 1:57.26.

Junior Melany Crocker swept the women’s 100 and 200-meter races, posting a time of 12.61 in the 100 and 25.96 in the 200. The men’s 400-meter dash was won by freshman Colin Nelson with a time of 50.53.

Two more Linfield women claimed multiple events on April 14. Senior Misty Corwin ended the day victorious in the pole vault, clearing a season-best 3.5-meter bar.

Sophomore Anna LaBeaume won the shot put with a throw of 13.09 meters, and she also won the discus with a toss of 36.26 meters. To top off her victories, she merely finished third in the hammer throw with a heave of 41.93 meters.

Distance runners excelled during the meet. Junior Shanna Peaden won the women’s 5,000-meter by nearly a full minute with a blistering time of 18:45.11.

In the men’s 5,000-meter, senior Arian Anderson and freshman Calvin Howell finished first and second. Anderson won the race with a time of 15:53.48, and Howell set a personal record with a time of 16:17.20.

The women’s 1,500-meter saw freshman Audrey Lichten grab hold of third place by running a season-best 4:52.71.

The men’s side saw a third place finish as well from senior Alex Van Slyke, who ran a fantastic 4:06.98. Sophomore Brandon Lemerande finished second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:00.11.

Field events on the men’s side had a winner in the javelin.

Senior Sean Boedeker tossed a season-best at 53.61 meters.

Boedeker’s teammate, junior Josh Melander, took second with a league-qualifying toss of 50.44 meters.

Juniors Drew Wert, Caleb Stringer and Kyle Pfeifer all finished in the top three in their events: shotput, discus and hammer toss.

Sophomore Bryan Takano and freshman Garrett Soumokil tied for third in the long jump with career-best efforts. Their distance of 6.12 meters was good enough to qualify for the league championships.

As the athletes prepare for the NWC Championships, Evans believes that the team is “full of morale.”

“We have top performers in most events, and I feel like we have a good shot of being top contenders,” Evans said.

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Tyler Bradley/For the Review
Tyler Bradley can be  reached at  linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Sophomore Claire Hann (number 380) competes in the women’s 5,000-meter run at the Linfield Jenn Boyman Invitational on April 7 at Maxwell Stadium. Kate Straube/Staff photographer

The Wildcats had a record-setting day at the Linfield Jenn Boyman Invitational on April 7.

The weather was beautiful, and the Wildcats responded with one of their best team performances of the season.

Junior Melany Crocker won the 100-meter dash in 12.41 seconds, the third-fastest time in Linfield history. She also placed second in the 200-meter with a time of 25.94, the fifth-fastest time in Linfield history.

Freshman Halsie Peek placed second in the 100-meter with a time of 12.43, the fourth-fastest time in Linfield history. Peek also teamed up with Crocker in the Women’s 4X100 relay, which they won unopposed with a time of 49.26.

“I put faith in my coaches’ workouts so that I would peak at the right time of the season,” Peek said.

Many other Linfield track athletes seem to be peaking right now as well.

Sophomore Anna LaBeaume had a big day. She placed third in the discus with a toss of 38.70 meters, the ninth-best toss in Linfield history and the second-best in the NWC this year. LaBeaume did not stop there. She also placed second in the shot put with a toss of 12.30 meters and fifth in the hammer toss with a toss of 42.55 meters.

The record setters were not the only success stories on the women’s side. Senior Catherine Street won the pole vault, clearing 13 feet, 1.5 inches. Senior Misty Corwin took third in the pole vault, clearing 10 feet, 11.75 inches. Junior Rachael Dean took third place in the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.22 and freshman Brooke Niemann placed third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 12:12.37.

On the men’s side, there were personal-best performances as well, led by freshman Colin Nelson’s victory in the 400-meter with a time of 50.30. His time was the second fastest in the NWC this year.

Senior Barrett Zetterberg set a personal record by taking second in the 400-hurdles with a time of 56.81.

Freshman Garrett Soumokil finished sixth in the long jump with a distance of six meters. He also took third in the triple jump with a career-best 13.18 meter total.

Also taking third in their respective competitions were sophomore Brandon Lemerande, junior Scott Gage and senior Sean Boedeker. Lemerande ran the 10,000 with a time of 36:40.44, Gage ran the 5,000 with a time of 15:31.53, and Boedeker tossed the javelin 52.94 meters.

The 5,000-meter race ended with three Linfield athletes in the top five. Joining Gage were sophomore Joe Gladow with a time of 15:41.42 and senior Eric Weinbender with a time of 15:44.07.

The Linfield 4X400 team of Clayton Cooper, Lucian Battaglia, Lester Maxwell and Colin Nelson took second place, narrowly losing to Concordia and posting a time of 3:25.26.

Linfield hosts the Northwest Conference Combined (decathlon and heptathlon) Championships April 9 and 10 at Maxwell Field. The full track and field team competes next at the Pacific Luau next Saturday at 10 a.m.

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Tyler Bradley/For the Review
Tyler Bradley can be  reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

One of Linfield’s pole vaulters made history this weekend as Catherine Street won the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. The meet was held at Grinnell College in Iowa.

Street’s goal was to set a new personal and meet record with 13 feet 9 ¾ inches. Even though she did not meet this, she still pulled in a victory. This is the fourth time that she has attended the meet, but it is the first title that she has won.

She is now joining the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame alongside two
other female track and field champions.

The track teams also competed in a dual meet against George Fox on March 10. The women’s team lost with a score of 80-73. The men’s team beat the Bruins 97-71.

Overall, the two teams won a total of 17 events.

On the women’s side, junior Melany Crocker won the 100-meter dash with freshman Halsie Peek receiving third. Sophomore Nelly Evans took first in the 800-meter dash with freshman Audrey Lichten pulling in close behind her in second. Both women qualified to compete in the conference championship.

Junior Shanna Peaden had no opponents for the 5000-meter run but qualified for conference with a time of 18 minutes and 31.92 seconds.

Senior Misty Corwin won pole vault and also qualified for conference championships. Sophomore Courtney Alley threw her season’s best and took first in discus.

“All I want to do is throw a new personal record in discus,” Alley said. “I’ve been chasing it since my senior year in high school, and I’m very motivated and hopeful that I can get it.”

Anna LaBeaume won the hammer throw and placed second in both shot put and discus throw.

Sophomore Jason Cheyne took first in the 100-meter relay with a time of 11.22. Teammate sophomore Nicholas Turner followed close behind with a time of 11.53.

Freshman Colin Nelson qualified for conference in the 400 with his winning time of 51.19.

The Linfield men’s 4×100 meter relay pulled in a win over George Fox with a time of 43.5.

The team consisted of Nelson, sophomore Zach Kawamoto, Turner and Nelson.

Sophomore Michael Madden and freshman Chad Linnerooth both received first in events. Madden took the top spot in 400 hurdles and Linnerooth winning the 1500.

Linfield ended the meet with wins in four of the men’s field events: pole vault, shot put, hammer throw and javelin.

Junior Kyle Pfeifer met his season’s best with a toss of 159 feet 4 inches.

“The girls’ side of the team seems to be getting stronger,” Alley said. “[The men’s] throwers seem to be setting new personal records for themselves each week in at least one event.”

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Ivanna Tucker/Features editor
Ivanna Tucker can be reached at linfieldreviewfeatures@gmail.com.

A Linfield athlete set a record at the Washington Indoor Open at the University of Washington on Feb.  11 and 12, representing Linfield alongside 12 other athletes.

Senior Catherine Street set a new NCAA Division III pole vault record with a height of 13-09.25.

“I have been working so hard and I’m really happy to see it starting to pay off,” Street said.

Street attends the Portland nursing campus, making it difficult to be part of the team.

“I’m lucky the Linfield coaches let me practice at my club, Willamette Strider Track Club in Oregon City so I don’t have to drive every day to McMinnville,” Street said.

Despite not being able to workout with the team, Street still practices on her own for two to four hours a day.

Street hopes to be the first women NCAA Division III athlete to pole vault over 14 feet and hopes to make it to the Olympic trials someday.

Senior Misty Corwin also competed well in the pole vault, clearing 11 feet.

Five Linfield athletes competed in the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash.

In the women’s 60-meter dash, junior Melany Crocker ran 8.25 seconds, while freshman Halsie Peek ran 8.21 seconds.

In the women’s 200-meter dash, Crocker ran 27.62 seconds while Peek ran 27.85 seconds.

In the men’s 200 meter dash, sophomore Michael Madden ran 24.17 seconds, junior Clayton Cooper ran 24.07 seconds and freshman Colin Nelson ran 23.67 seconds.

Cooper and Madden also competed in the 400-meter dash, running 53.23 seconds and 53.08 seconds, respectively. Senior Barrett Zetterberg also competed in the 400-meter dash, with a time of 53.85 seconds.

Freshman Madison Trowbridge ran the 800-meter run in her first collegiate indoor track meet, finishing with a time of 2:27.10.

Senior Lucian Battaglia ran the 800-meter run for the men’s side, finishing with a time of 1:58.65.

Two women
represented Linfield in the shot put. Sophomore Courtney Alley threw 30-10.50, while sophomore Anna LeBeaume threw 41-02.50.

“Anna LeBeaume did well in the shot and has a shot at making nationals,” head track and field coach Travis Olson said.

Freshman Garrett Soumokil was the only Linfield athlete to participate in the jumps. In the long jump, Soumokil jumped 19-08.25. In the triple jump, Soumokil jumped 41-08.00.

“Our goal this year is to be in the top three on both the men’s and women’s teams,” Olson said. “I feel like the women have a good shot at winning the conference if everything goes well toward the end of the season.”

Linfield’s next track meet will be a home meet.

The Linfield Erik Anderson Icebreaker is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. March 2 and 9 a.m. March 3.

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Meghan O’Rourke/Opinion editor
Meghan O’Rourke can be reached at linfieldreviewopinion@gmail.com.