Zoe Lang/The Mossy Log
The Lewis & Clark Track and Field team is entering the championship phase of its season following the Larry Byerly Invite, a two-day meet with the first day at Linfield on Friday, April 17, and the second day at home on the Eldon and David Fix Track.
The teams performed quite well throughout the weekend with several personal records (PR) being set, and some athletes coming close to setting school records, with five top-50 performances in program history on the men’s team and four from the women’s team.
The second day began at 9 a.m. at Griswold Stadium with the women’s 10,000-meter. Over 1,000 athletes were in attendance for their final regular season meet, with many family and friends watching from the stands. Over 20 schools participated, such as Whitworth, Whitman, Pacific Lutheran, Pacific, Willamette, Linfield, Puget Sound, George Fox and more, as well as numerous running clubs.
Andrew Baum ’26, who placed seventh in hammer throw and discus and 13th in shot put, reflected on his performance last weekend.
“Historically, it wasn’t a very good shot put meet for me. I’ve had a lot of better marks in the past month or so, so that’s something I really got to hone in and focus on going into conferences. But I was really happy with hammer and discus. I threw a personal best in hammer by about a meter and a half, and then discus, I didn’t quite hit my personal best, but I was about 2.5-3 meters over my best from this past season. So although I’m not quite at my peak yet, this is probably the best I’ve performed this season for sure,” Baum said in an interview with The Mossy Log.
Callow Soto ’27, placed 10th in the 200 meter with a time of 26.52 seconds, achieving 14th in program history. She also placed fifth in the 4×100 meter relay race and third in the 4×400 meter. Soto commented on her performance this weekend in an interview with The Mossy Log.
“I had a pretty good day this Saturday. I had a PR in the 200 and then ran a personal best in the 4×4 split, and then we as a team also ran a season best of the 4×4 and are really close to breaking the school record and setting a new PR for us, too,” Soto said. “There were really good performances all around from most of the team, and it was sunny and warm, which always makes it a lot better. And I was really excited after my races. PR-ing is always fun, and everyone’s always really excited.”
Malia Heien ’26, who placed third in both the 800 meter and the 4×400 (in the same quartet with Soto, as well as Carolyn Mayberry ’27 and Rose Dinh ’27) provided further insight into the meet.
“I got to have a big breakthrough race this weekend, which was really nice, going into conferences this week. And we set a season-best in the 4×4, which is really close to the school record. It’s the fastest we’ve ever ran in the regular season, so it was just a good weekend all around,” Heien told The Mossy Log. “I saw a lot of people smiling, a lot of people having fun, a lot of season bests and personal bests, a lot of people really competing and going for the win.”
Another highlight of the weekend was Senior Night, in which, after the competitive events of the day had concluded, the team honored the 18 seniors or athletes competing in their final season of track and field.
Baum spoke about the experience of Senior Night for him and his peers.
“We did half of it in the dark. Each senior came up, literally and figuratively received their flowers, (and) received a poster made by our teammates,” he said.
Baum further reflected on his college track career, contrasting it with his experience on the football team.
“During my time on track, I enjoyed working on a couple of things at a time. We always talk about how it’s kind of like a Hydra. You get rid of one problem and another one pops up,” Baum said. “I played football as well. So those two sports are very, very different, and I think they’re almost polar opposites in a sense when it comes to having success, because as a football player, you’re kind of like a different part of a machine, your role, you do your one thing to try to help the bigger team.”
Looking ahead to the Northwest Conference Championship, which will be held April 25 and 26 at Whitworth, in Spokane, Washington, Head Coach Chris Reed noted that the team is in a strong position for the conference meet in an interview with The Mossy Log.
“There’s a lot of things you can try to predict on paper. But ultimately, it comes down to 18- to 22-year-old athletes putting their best foot forward and seeing how it all shakes out. On the women’s side, we did lose a pretty couple of really key people last year. Riley Buese (’25) won a couple of events and Madeleine Boyle (’25) scored in three distance events,” Reed said in an interview with The Mossy Log.
Reed continued, offering predictions for the upcoming meet.
“I think our women have a chance to finish anywhere between fifth and eighth of the conference meet depending on how things shake out. We have a really good day, we’ll finish fifth. If we’re a little off, we’ll finish seventh or eighth,” Reed said. “We have a good chance to finish fourth or fifth on the men’s side, just with some of the new bodies we brought in and some of the improvements that we’ve had with some of our returners.”
Reed mentioned some indoor records from the season and highlighted some athletes to keep an eye on this conference.
“Quinn Higgins (’27) is ranked second and third in the conference in his respective events. Malia Heien is ranked first in one event, and second in another. Evan Markelz (’27) is running really well in the 5K and has positioned himself nicely at the conference. Harrison Fung (’27) is one of the top four of the hurdlers in the conference. He won it last year, so he’s aiming for big things this year as well. Elsie Chin (’26) has been a huge contributor both in the 400 (meter) hurdles and the 400 (meter),” Reed said.
Reed continued, highlighting a particularly promising athlete.
“And then one I would be remiss to probably the biggest highlight in terms of improvement this year is Emil Miller (’27). He eked out a point or two at the conference meet last year, had a great race when it mattered. But then, this year, he’s totally taken it by the horns, and he’s become one of the top steeplechasers in the conference. He actually has a chance at the school record in the steeplechase and school records older than me.”
Reed provided a clear, balanced analysis of the team and provided insight into the role of the coaches.
“One of the things that we’ve done a really good job of is becoming much more of a track-and-field team, instead of just a bunch of separate entities. We got such a great staff. I’m so fortunate to have the people working with me that I do. We’ve added to our coaching staff every year that I’ve been here, and there’s just a lot of passion, and I’m really impressed with some of the expertise that we have in certain event areas on our coaching staff, and we work really well together,” Reed said.
The team is very well set up for success in the last meet of the year. Athletes have been tapering off heavy lifts and increasing their speed, focusing on mobility and avoiding injury before the big day.
Soto expressed excitement and hope for conferences — both for the chance of a PR and to spend time with her teammates.
“My goal is to make finals in the 400 and hopefully score higher than I did last year. And to hopefully PR in the 200. I don’t expect to make finals, but it would be really cool if I did,” Soto said. “Then for the 4×4, I’m hoping that we’ll break the school record, and there’s a chance we’ll win. It’s against us and Puget Sound and Whitworth, they’re all really close in time. … I’m just hoping to have fun more than (anything) and have a good time with my friends and teammates.”
Heien is looking forward to the competitive spirit of conferences.
“I’m really excited. It’s my favorite meet of the year. The competition in both races is going to be pretty close for me, and that’s the way that I like it. I like a close race,” Heien said. “My goal is to win one of the races. The past three years we’ve had a nationally ranked mid-distance runner in the conference, so she’s always taken the win. But she’s graduated, so it’s kind of up for grabs for anyone.”
The first day of the Northwest Conference Championship is scheduled to start on Saturday, April 25, at 11 a.m. at the Whitworth Pine Bowl, almost a six-hour drive from LC to Spokane. Support the River Otters this weekend, and keep up by streaming on FloCollege and viewing live results on AthleticLIVE!
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