Movie Night - Race for Kenya
January 26, 2014

Members of the Linfield College distance crew headed over to Coach Greg Mitchell's house to hang out and watch a movie last weekend. Lured by a running movie and the promise of Mrs. Coach Mitchell's chocolate chip cookies, a few carloads of runners made the trip. The movie, a documentary by Pat Butcher entitled Race for Kenya, led to discussions re: what makes Kenyan distance runners so good? Is it the altitude? Is it the training groups? Is it the work ethics? Is it genetics? Is it drugs?

Members of the Wildcat distance crew pose after watching the movie and eating cookies.

Indoor Season Is Off and Running
January 17, 2014

A small contingent of Wildcat tracksters headed to Pullman, WA for their first competition of the year. The small 200m indoor facility at Washington State University was the perfect locale to shake off the rust and get the season underway.

Calli Dowdy gets ready to do battle in the women's 600 meters.

The Linfield Distance Crew was represented by Calli Dowdy and Art O'Kelly in the 600m and Adrian Clifford and Michael O'Neil in the 3000m. Dowdy battled hard to finish in 1:52. "I've never raced a 600m before," stated Dowdy. "I definitely went out too hard. But it was a nice way to get the season going and I am excited to race the 800m next week in Idaho." O'Kelly also raced his first 600m finishing in 1:28.

Adrian Clifford (l) and Michael O'Neil (r) prepare to tackle the 3k.

In the longest race of the day, O'Neil and Clifford were among the leaders for most of the 15 laps of the 3000m. In the end, O'Neil blasted away from all of the competition, winning in a time of 9:08. Clifford finished well in a time of 9:48.

Post-meet pizza time at Round Table Pizza.

Next up, the team again travels east next weekend, this time to Moscow, Idaho and the iconic Kibbie Dome.