The stars of the rustic speedway

Cross-country’s runners remember their season and gear up for the final race

Compiled by Peter Melling /// Sports Editor

Jeffrey Mullins (’18)

Where did you go to high school? 

Livermore Valley Charter Prep in Livermore, California. It was a small school; when I started, the entire student body was freshmen.

How long have you been running? 

I’ve been running competitively since sophomore year of high school, so it’s been about three years. I did cross-country my first year, but it wasn’t really competitive, and I had a bad coach. After that, I had a much better coach.

What’s your favorite memory this season?

I really liked the Lewis & Clark Invite. I didn’t have as good of a race there as I would have liked, but I really liked actually having my own meet. I never really had that in high school. It was a lot of fun being the team that was putting on this event.

Favorite running shoes?

My favorite running shoes are the Saucony Ride 6s. They’re just a pair that I’ve used for a long time and they’ve lasted me for a lot of miles. I never get injuries in them.

What do you like most about running at LC?

I really like the team here. They’re all my best friends, and none of us fight. We’re just like a big family. In high school I had a team, but nobody put all that much effort into it besides my brother and myself. Here, we’re just like a big family and I love just being part of the team.

What’s your hope for the championship race and future races? 

My hope for the team is that we all come through trying our best. There’s a large difference in skill, but it doesn’t really matter in the sport because we can all give it our all. I just want them to be satisfied with how they do, because times vary from course to course. Being that it is my first year, I’m not sure how we rank next to the other teams, so I’d just like our guys to do well. I’d like to set my personal record in my championship meet. I know that doesn’t always happen given different times on different courses, so I wouldn’t be disappointed. I was very close to that in the last meet and I’d like to keep improving on my time.

Peter Innes (’18)

Where did you go to high school? 

I went to Bloomington High School South in Indiana. It was a public school with about 1600 students.

How long have you been running?

This is my first season with the team. I started running consistently this winter, and before that I had played soccer all my life.

What’s your favorite memory this season?

I had a lot of fun going down to Stanford University with the team and staying in a hotel. It was an exciting experience, and it was really fun to hang out around Stanford. We toured Brendy Hale’s (’15) high school, met some of his old teammates and had dinner at his house.

Favorite running shoes?

I like the shoes I’m running in right now. They’re called Saucony Kinvaras, which are good trainers. For speedwork, I like the Nike Streaks, and for running on trails I wear Solomon Sense.

What do you like most about running at LC?

I don’t think there’s any one thing. I suppose it’s been a lot of fun being a part of a team, which is something I’ve missed since playing soccer in high school. I also really like running in the Northwest, mostly because this time of year the weather is cool and we can get out on the trails easily, and it’s fun to run in a big group.

What’s your hope for the championship race and future races? 

I hope everyone can have a really good day because, in the past, a couple of people would have really good races and other people not so much. So, we’ve had a hard time getting everybody to have a really strong performance together, so it’d be really awesome to see everybody do well. As for personal goals, I’d like to reach my personal record.

Blake Slattengren (’18)

Where did you go to high school? 

Inglemoor High School in Victoria, Washington.

How long have you been running? 

Competitively, since seventh grade.

What’s your favorite memory this season? 

I really liked pre-camp, where we went to the Oregon coast for a couple of days. We spent a couple of days at this beach house, we ran around the beach and we just got to hang out and eat food. It was really fun.

Favorite running shoes? 

I’m a fan of the Brooks Ghosts.

What do you like most about running at LC? 

I really like the team. The team is a lot of fun, I like being a part of a team and just getting to run, too. You get to do what you love on this team.

What’s your hope for the championship race and future races? 

Hopefully we will place well in the conference and everyone’s going to have a good race, because that’s not always the case. Hopefully, if we do well, we can place in the top three.

Susan Heinselman  (’15)

Where did you go to high school? 

Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, California.

How long have you been running?

 I’ve been running cross-country since my second year of high school, and running pretty much my whole life. My dad did a bunch of ultra-marathons since I was a kid (a long-distance running event that is longer than the standard 26 miles/42.2 kilometers for a marathon, commonly between 50 and 100 miles).

What’s your favorite memory this season? 

I think it was funny when we had all these souvenir Environmental Studies temporary tattoos, for no real reason. It was fun to do that, along with many of the fun things we did while traveling to the Stanford meet.

Favorite running shoes? 

I really like Mizuno running shoes, most of the time. They’re really comfortable, and they’ve always worked for me.

What do you like most about running at Lewis & Clark? 

The community. It’s just such a great group of people on campus and on the team. I’m really happy to be a part of this team and to have run with them for so long.

What’s your hope for the championship race and future races? 

I hope we work together at the championship meet and have a good race, have fun, and keep enjoying running at this level.

Aviva Browning  (’16)

Where did you go to high school? 

Capital High School in Olympia, Washington.

How long have you been running?

Competitively, I’ve been running since my first year of high school. I’ve been running at Lewis & Clark since my first year.

What’s your favorite memory this season? 

My favorite memory would probably be the ridiculous hotel we stayed in at the Stanford invite, and watching all the boys get ice baths with their fancy robes on. I really liked spending this time on the road and in the hotel.

Favorite running shoes? 

My favorite shoes are the Nike Structure 16s. I like the way they feel when I run and how they wear over time.

What do you like most about running at Lewis & Clark? 

I really love the people here. It’s a great community, and I enjoy  the sense of family this team has brought me since I joined the team as a first-year.

What’s your hope for the championship race and future races? 

In the championship, I hope that Susan, Ali and I can all finish top three, which would be second team all-conference. Then, at regionals, I hope we give all the other teams a run for their money. We’ve got the potential to cause a lot of havoc at both races, and I can’t wait to get my feet on the track.

Ali Brauer (’15)

Where did you go to high school? 

Portland Lutheran High School in Portland, Oregon.

How long have you been running?

 I’ve been running my whole life, but competitively since I was 10.

What’s your favorite memory this season? 

I’m going to have to go with Stanford. It was our first time going to that meet, and the field was just insane. It was the biggest race we’ve ever run in, with the largest number of participants we’ve ever seen (361 men and 330 women), and that in itself was an experience, but also getting to be on the Stanford campus and walk around after the meet was really cool

Favorite running shoes? 

Mizuno Wave Inspired shoes are my shoes of choice for running.

What do you like most about running at Lewis & Clark? 

First of all, Keith Woodard is probably the best coach anyone could ever ask for, and also the people are all crazy and we all get along so well together.

What’s your hope for the championship race and future races? 

I hope we place in the top 14 (so, being second team all-conference). We’re definitely a bit underrated this year, I think, and I’m hoping we can go out there and surprise some people, because we have a lot of talent even if we haven’t shown it yet.