General Interest News
Former 'Cat Erik Anderson dies tragically
February 20, 2009
SPOKANE, Wash. - Former Linfield student-athlete Erik Anderson died Thursday in what authorities are calling a "tragic accident" at the Community Colleges of Spokane.
The 38-year-old Anderson died while trying to repair a pin mechanism on bowling alley equipment in the college’s Lair-Student Center. Students were present in the alley at the time of the accident but no one saw what happened.
Anderson was named head men’s and women’s cross country coach at CCS in 2004 after serving as an assistant at CCS and Clark College in Vancouver, Wash. Under his leadership, the CCS men and women's teams swept the NWAACC cross country championships each of the last three seasons. He served as a faculty member of the Physical Education and Health Department at CCS.
He graduated from Linfield in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and two NAIA All-America recognitions in track and cross country. On the track, he placed a third nationally in the steeplechase and was 17th at the NAIA cross country championships. Anderson remains the only Linfield male to earn All-America honors in cross country over the last 20 years. He was a four-time Northwest Conference champion in cross country, and also won individual track titles in the 5,000 meters and the steeplechase.
He served a brief stint overseas in Operation Desert Storm as a scout for Apache Helicopters.
Anderson went on to receive his graduate degree at Eastern Washington University in 2003 in exercise science and physiology. His thesis was a study of deep water running in elite distance runners.
Anderson is survived by his wife, Mariza, a former Linfield cross country and track athlete from the class of 1997, and their two daughters, Ripley and Evelyn.
The 38-year-old Anderson died while trying to repair a pin mechanism on bowling alley equipment in the college’s Lair-Student Center. Students were present in the alley at the time of the accident but no one saw what happened.
Anderson was named head men’s and women’s cross country coach at CCS in 2004 after serving as an assistant at CCS and Clark College in Vancouver, Wash. Under his leadership, the CCS men and women's teams swept the NWAACC cross country championships each of the last three seasons. He served as a faculty member of the Physical Education and Health Department at CCS.
He graduated from Linfield in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and two NAIA All-America recognitions in track and cross country. On the track, he placed a third nationally in the steeplechase and was 17th at the NAIA cross country championships. Anderson remains the only Linfield male to earn All-America honors in cross country over the last 20 years. He was a four-time Northwest Conference champion in cross country, and also won individual track titles in the 5,000 meters and the steeplechase.
He served a brief stint overseas in Operation Desert Storm as a scout for Apache Helicopters.
Anderson went on to receive his graduate degree at Eastern Washington University in 2003 in exercise science and physiology. His thesis was a study of deep water running in elite distance runners.
Anderson is survived by his wife, Mariza, a former Linfield cross country and track athlete from the class of 1997, and their two daughters, Ripley and Evelyn.
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Erik Anderson
Kelly Bird
Director of Sports Information
Linfield College
McMinnville, OR 97128
E-mail: kbird@linfield.edu
Phone: 503-883-2439
Fax: 503-883-2649
