GRINNELL, Iowa – The Grinnell College track and field teams have taken big steps in recent years, and they'll look to continue that in the 2025-26 campaign.
 
Coach Jeff Pedersen's squads open their seasons at home Friday with a meet in the Bear Center Field House.
 
Following is Pedersen's assessment of the Grinnell squads:

Sprints
Lucas Fadden '26, the Pioneers' All-American in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, returns after placing fifth in the 100 at last year's NCAA Division III Championships and 13^th in the 200. He is the school record-holder in the indoor 60 and 200, as well as outdoor 100 and 200. "He'll lead the way for us," said Pedersen. "Jake Logue '28 is also back and looks even better than last year. I'm also super-excited with George Stenberg '29 and Eli Grzelweski '29 in the short sprints and Caden Pfister '27 and Linus O'Brien '28 in the long sprints."  Logue, Jesse Miller '28, Justin Rathburn '27 and Fadden hold the school record in the 4x100 relay, while Jake Warren '28, O'Brien, Pfister and Miller own the mark in the indoor 4x200. Logue ranks second on the all-time 60 dash chart.
 
"On the women's side, we have some very good sprinters and have added promising newcomers Keelin Swisher '29 and Emily Summers '29," said Pedersen. Lily Mayo '28 and Rajanea Landers '28 are among top returnees in that group after running legs on the school-record indoor 4x200 relay team.
 
Jumps
"Our overall depth and talent are vastly increased in both the men's and women's horizontal jumps," said Pedersen. "Jesse Miller, Casey Oliveira '27 and Jess Christensen '29 will lead us in the long and triple jumps, with Midwest Conference outdoor champion Jack Novelle '26 returning in the high jump where we'll also be bolstered by Luka Pinto '29.
 
"This might be the deepest women's group we've had in the jumps with returning conference outdoor triple jump champion Rajanea Landers leading the way," Pedersen added. "Lily Mayo will be a big contributor in the jumps, Kate Solano '29 should score in the triple jump and I'm also excited about the addition of Steph Kama-Kama '28 and Kirsten Kelly '29."

Throws
"We are still very good at the top end of the men's throws with Ian Clawson '26 returning as our school record-holder in both the weight and hammer throws," said Pedersen. "He's been among the best in the conference for the past three years and will be looking to win his first conference title. Jake Bell '27 (second all-time at GC in the discus) will be among the best in the conference in the javelin and discus, while Caleb Leopoldo '28 looks to break through in the shot put. Oleg Brennan '28 and Rory Leonard '28 should also challenge in the javelin.
 
"Kylie Galowitz '26 returns for the women's team as a conference scorer in the shot put, discus and hammer," he added. "Juniper Schwartzman '27 (MWC champ in the javelin who ranks second in program history) and Maddy Strovers '26 will help us a lot in the javelin, and we have a quartet of multi-sport athletes to bolster the lineup with Nikki Styranovski '29 and Nora Cheng '29 from the soccer team, Megan Walters '29 from basketball and Marlowe Hurst '28 from volleyball."

Mid-Distance
"We have a veteran group on the men's side with Luke Robinson '26, Connor Heagy '26, Andy Chestovich '26 and Cameron Welch-Groves '26, and have a super-deep group on the women's side with Hannah Roark '26, Tennyson Shultz '28, Noelle Vu '28, Beatrice Ebel '28 and Sindri Bonner '28," said Pedersen.
 
Roark is the defending MWC champ in the indoor mile and 3000 and ran on the runner-up outdoor 4x400 team. She set a school record in the outdoor distance medley relay with Shultz and Bonner and is second in the indoor and outdoor 800s and indoor 3000. Robinson is the school record-holder in the indoor mile and 3000, while Heagy ranks second in the indoor mile.
 
Distance
*Ben Abelow '28, Sam Beck '27 and Greyson Imm '28, plus a strong group of newcomers, lead the way on the men's side," said Pedersen. "Morgan Karow '26 leads us on the women's side along with Talia Harrison '26, Lizzie Drew '29, Arushi Kharbanda '29 and Genevieve Madigan '28. We should be strong in the steeplechase with Hannah Roth '27 (defending MWC champ and school record-holder), Diana Barba '26 and Emma Wharton-Hsieh '27 in the women's group and Robinson (defending MWC champ) for the men."
 
Hurdles
"Ilem Leisher '27 (school record-holder in the 60 hurdles) has had a lot of success in the high hurdles and will be joined by Jess Christensen, while Jacob Schomberg '28 and Quentin Kelley '29 will lead us in the intermediates," said Pedersen. "For the women, Jessie Goodman '26 has continued to improve and will help us in both the highs and intermediates, while Josie Shiraz '28 will add to our depth."
 
Midwest Conference
"We have the deepest and most balanced rosters we've had in years, so we believe we'll compete well," said Pedersen. "When our current seniors arrived on campus in the fall of '22, we really felt like they were a group we could build around with the goal of winning a conference championship. It's been great seeing the cross country teams win a couple, I'd like to see the track and field teams break through and do the same.  The league lost some outstanding talent from last year, but there's plenty coming back, and everybody seems to be recruiting and reloading well.  It's going to be fun to see how it all plays out."