Wildcat Distance Crew Races Well at NWC Championships
April 25-26

After two days of championship competition, the Linfield distance runners looked back on a successful campaign against conference rivals. Battling the other seven Northwest Conference rivals under surprisingly good weather conditions at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA, the Wildcats showed up ready to go and the results were impressive.

Katie Skinner moves up mid-race during the NWC 3k steeplechase.

On day one, Katie Skinner dropped her steeplechase PR by 30 seconds to place 6th in the race. Her time of 11:39 was also good enough to move her to number 7 All-time on the Linfield Top Ten List. "Katie raced with savvy and moved up well throughout the race," stated distance coach Greg Mitchell. "Not too shabby for someone racing only their third steeple ever!" The steeple went well on the men's side too, with freshman Chris Roth just missing points finishing in 9th with a new PR of 10:23. Brandon Lemerande battled hard as well, finishing 12th in a time of 10:43.

The Wildcats ran great in the 10,000 meters as well. On the women's side Siena Noe and Hannah Greider ran massive PRs to place 3rd and 5th at the championships, respectively. Noe's time of 37:37 placed her 3rd All-time at Linfield while Greider's 37:57 landed her in 6th All-time. On the men's side Joe Gladow placed 4th in a new PR of 32:35 and Jason Hight finished just out of the points in 9th with a new all-time best of 33:35. Arian Clifford ran well, finishing his first conference 10k in 34:46, good enough for 12th. "The 10k is such a grueling race and our kids laid it all out there," stated Mitchell.

On Saturday, the 'Cats kept the momentum rolling. The 1500 meters went well with Madison Trowbridge (4:52) and Audrey Lichten (4:53) finishing in 7th and 8th respectively. The men also had success in the 1500m, with Chad Linnerooth and Mike O'Neil laying down dramatic finishes to snag 3rd and 5th. "Chad's last 100 meters was one of the most exciting aspects of the whole championships," stated Mitchell. "He showed a lot of heart and gained 3 positions. The crowd was going crazy! It was awesome!" The tandem of Trowbridge and Lichten doubled back in the 800 meters, and on tired legs, still finished strongly to place 5th and 7th.

Chad Linnerooth unleashing his kick at the NWC Championships.

In the final distance event of the weekend, the Linfield women put on a show. Greider, Noe and Skinner all doubled back and doubled back very well, finishing in 2nd, 4th and 6th place, with all notching new PRs. Greider's time of 17:58 puts her 5th All-time on the Linfield list and Noe's 18:08 puts her in 8th place All-time. "Watching Hannah, Siena and Katie race so well was very rewarding," stated Mitchell. "They put in the hard work and bought in to our program over the past 4 years and reaped the rewards big time. It was a joy to watch."

Siena Noe and Hannah Greider lead the chase pack during the NWC 5000 meter race.

On the men's side, Joe Gladow raced well finishing in 15:39 which was good enough for 7th place. Mike O'Niel (11th, 15:58) and Jason Hight (13th, 16:10) also doubled back and raced well.