Athlete of the Month: Kori Groenveld (’18)

By ABE FIELD

Kori Groenveld (’18) has been running ever since she can remember. As she begins her sophomore year at Lewis & Clark (LC), her teammates describe her as a fierce competitor and like a sister to her team. This season, the women’s cross country team has began a tough competition schedule against other colleges and universities in the area, and Kori has lead the way as their fastest runner.

As a freshman at Thousand Oaks High School in Southern California, she joined the varsity cross country team and competed with athletes who were many years older than her. “Southern California is the most competitive cross country section in the country,” Groenveld says. “We had a lot of good competition.” In this atmosphere, Groenveld excels. Her competitive nature drives her to push herself as hard as she can every day during practice and on race day.

The women’s Cross Country team has a bond like no other team on campus, Groenveld says. “They are great friends, but even more than that they are family,” Groenveld explains. “There’s a certain bond that you get with people when you go through the worst thing imaginable and they push you to do your best every time,” she says.

This year, Groenveld has lead the women’s team for their first two races. At their first meet of the season, Westmoreland, Groenveld placed 13th in a field that included Division I athletes from schools like Portland State, University of Portland and Oregon State.

When asked about her pre-race rituals, Groenveld says she has many. “I have my friends braid my hair the night before a race, and I shave my legs so I can be more aerodynamic,” she says with a laugh. On race day, Groenveld eats Cliff ‘Shot Blocs’ which are full of vitamins and energy.

Groenveld’s passion for running extends outside of school as well. Groenveld says she will “run until graduation, and then I hope to run marathons and do triathlons.” Just like her teammates and race record suggest, Groenveld will just keep going faster. As long as she is on her feet, Groenveld says she “will never stop running.”