By Cornelia Seigneur, Special to The Oregonian
Published Saturday, November 27, 2010
SW Weekly Oregonian
Name: Ellie Clow
Tracy Krellwitz
Age: 16
Hometown: West Linn
Grade/school: Junior, West Linn High School
Team: Varsity cross country
Recent accomplishment: Top West Linn finisher in 5,000-meter girls varsity race at last month’s Three Rivers League District Championship, with personal-best time of 20 minutes, 8 seconds; placed 10th overall. One of two on her team to qualify for this month’s OSAA/U.S. Bank/Les Schwab Tires 2010 Cross Country State Championships in Eugene, where she placed 76th in a field of 106.
How she got started: “I started cross country as a sixth-grader at Rosemont Ridge Middle School and have been on a team ever since.”
Favorite part of sport: “I like the satisfaction of finishing a race or getting a personal record for the distance, but I think my favorite part is hanging out with the team. They are all so funny and nice. We participate in a very difficult sport and it is good to have people we can relate to. Everybody goes through the same thing in a race and we all know how it feels.”
Favorite meal the night before the big event: “Anything with LOTS of carbs and protein … I also try to drink a lot of water.”
Off-season?: “I don’t do a sport in the winter but I do track in the spring. I participate in the 800(-meter), 3000(-meter), and the 4-by-400(-meter) relay. I also am a high jumper — highest I have jumped is 5-foot-2.”
Rules to live by: “Do things that interest you. Life is too short not to.”
Memorable advice: “Don’t think. Just jump. My high jump coach frequently told me this. It means sometimes you have to stop overanalyzing and trust that you know what you are doing.”
Hobbies, interests: “I love to ride horses on the weekends and draw. I love photography, too.”
On her iPod: The Script, Muse, Dixie Chicks, Bruno Mars, Goo Goo Dolls.
The one thing someone may not know about her: “I have two cats, a snake named Vicious and seven chickens.”
