The Clark College Track and Field team participated in the second of their events this Saturday, March 8. The meet was held at Mount Hood Community College (MHCC).

    With the exception of relay races, track is predominantly an individualized sport. The Clark team is well represented in both talent and passion across all of the events.

    Riley Eoff and Janae Larson are two Penguins taking on new challenges in a new season.

    Larson, a freshman runner, said, “The whole team this season has a lot of potential, we have a lot of talent.”

    The first time Larson ran the 5000 meters on a track, she set the school record.

    On Saturday, Larson ran the 800 meter and 1500 meter events.

    Larson outran the field in the 1500 to take first place with a time of 4 minutes 50.0 seconds. Larson ran second, behind the pace setter, until the final lap of the race.

    “I was drafting off of her for a while,” Larson said. “Then the one girl went way ahead I thought ‘wow she is going to be the one who wins this’. Then my dad, actually, yelled at me ‘she’s slowing down, she is getting tired!’ I thought he was just saying that to get me to run go faster, but she was getting tired.”

    Larson also ran Cross Country earlier in the year. Larson sees the training as a benefit to her performance in track.

    “That was my second year ever doing cross country,” Larson said. “I think cross country training really helps with track.”

    Larson has set her goals for the season high. Larson said, “I would like to break the school record in the 1500 meter and the 800 meter. In the 5k, I would like to get into the low 17’s… 17:30’s or 17:20’s.”

    Riley Eoff, a freshman, has been preparing for the season by running with old friends.

    “Bill Dolan, who is our cross country coach, is running out there with us almost every day,” Eoff said.

    Saturday, Eoff ran the 3000 meter Steeple Chase for the first time on a challenge from a training partner and former Clark College student, Jonathan Graves.

    “Graves challenged me so I had to do it,” Eoff said. “He called me up and said ‘hey what are you doing on the weekend?’.”

    Graves, a junior at Warner Pacific College, ran for Clark as a sophomore last season.

    “We train on weekends so I wanted to compete against him,” Graves said. “It was his (Eoff) first time running it.”

    “(Graves) wasn’t implying that he could beat me… I knew he could,” Eoff said. “He is strong, he has great endurance. I love the challenge, but I never did this before.”

    Eoff’s competitive spirit was undeterred by finishing in the middle of the pack. After the race both Eoff and Graves walked the track together to cool down.

    “I’ll get you next time in something with no steeples,” Eoff said to Graves.

    Eoff and Larson live up to the challenge, even if it is for the first time.