SPORTS

Pinske, Seeley place first for Linfield

October 30, 2010

The Linfield cross country team competed in the Puma Concordia Classic on Oct. 16 at Fernhill Park in Portland.
The meet brought new competition, as the team battled against Northwest University, Concordia University, Lane Community College, Treasure Valley Community College and three Canadian universities.
The Linfield men’s team ran an 8K race and finished fifth out of eight teams, while the women ran a 5K race and placed fifth out of seven teams.
The University of British Columbia placed first on the men’s side and Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, B.C., Canada) finished first for the women.
Senior Scott Pinske was Linfield’s top placer for the men, clocking in at 20 minutes, 16
seconds and placing 20th.
Four of the other Linfield competitors finished in the top 50 with 73 runners in the race.
Freshman Joe Gladow, Linfield’s second place runner, took 26th place overall with a time of 26:25. Sophomore Cameron
Chester finished in 37th place with a time of 27:03, while junior Alex Van Slyke followed close behind with a time of 27:21, taking 42nd place. Rounding out the top 50 was freshman Jason Hight, who took 48th place and crossed the finish line at 27:54.
“We had a good showing by Gladow and Pinske,” Van Slyke said. “Overall it was a good meet for everyone who raced.”
Finishing first for the ’Cats on the women’s side was freshman Mimi Seeley, who clenched 25th place with a time of 18:42.
Three other runners completed the race in the top 50. Freshman Siena Noe and junior Shanna Peaden paced each other,
finishing in 46th and 47th places with times of 19:34 and 19:38, respectively. Freshman Hannah Greider sealed the top 50 with a time of 19:55.
“Our girls’ team has performed very well up to this point,” Noe said. “I think we’re going to peak as individuals and as a team.”
Conference is coming up on Oct. 30. Both the men and women’s teams have solid top six competitors for the conference meet. The teams hope to make it to regionals, which fall on Nov. 13 in Salem, Ore.
“It’s the end of the season so people are feeling anxious,” Van Slyke said. “We have a solid group of guys that have been working hard all season, and the past few weeks have been indicating nothing but good results for conference.”
The womens’ team has a similar outlook.
“We’ve consistently narrowed the gaps between each other during races, so we’re hoping this will make a big difference in our placing at conference,” Noe said. “If we come to compete, we have a shot.”