Grinnell College Athletics Hall of Fame
Sarah Spencer Perry ’08 is one of the premier athletes in recent Grinnell history. Running both cross country and track for the Pioneers, she went on to win Most Valuable Runner six times between the two sports, as well as setting multiple records for both the team and herself. She was a two-time Midwest Conference champion in Cross Country, was the runner-up her freshman year, and holds the school record in both the 5k and 6k. In outdoor track she was a conference champion twice in the 5 kilometer in 2006 and 2007, and was runner-up in the 1,500 in these same years. She was also the Drake Relays champion in the 10k in 2007. She ranks second all-time in both the 10k and 5k and third in the 1,500. For her indoor track experience, she is the all-time leader in both the 3k and the 5k. She was a four-time conference champion in indoor track. She anchored the championship distance medley relay as a freshman in 2005 and earned all-conference 1 mile and 3k that year as well. She also won individual honors at the Indoor Track Conference meets in the 5k in 2006 and the 3k and 5k in 2007. Nationally, she was an All-American three times. She placed third at the NCAA Cross Country Championship in 2006 and sixth in 2007. She also placed eighth in the 10k at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship in 2007. Her crowning achievement was leading Grinnell College to a seventh-place national finish, which is the best team finish for any sport in the history of the school. She was a seven-time Academic All-Conference, three-time National All-Academic, and graduated from Grinnell Phi Beta Kappa with degrees in Chinese and mathematics. Following her time at Grinnell, she ran her final year of eligibility at the University of Iowa, where she attended graduate school for her Master of Science in biostatistics. She now lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she is a busy wife and mother of three.
