Sophie Goodwin ’27, a first-year from San Antonio, TX, shined at the Ursinus Track & Field Festival on Saturday in Collegeville, PA. Goodwin won the steeplechase event with a time of 11:38.41, earning a personal record. The first year is now ranked 33rd in the nation in the event. Swarthmore women’s track and field will return to action next weekend at the Larry Ellis Invitational, Bill Butler Invitational, and the Bison Outdoor Classic.
Sophia Vesely: Can you tell us about the team’s performance at the Ursinus Festival over the weekend?
Sophie Goodwin: The weather did not cooperate with us at Ursinus. It was super windy, cold, and started raining so hard that they had to pause the meet for a bit. Because of this, we really had to be mentally strong and not let the unfavorable conditions become an excuse to compromise our performance. I think that the team really stepped up and we had many personal records, which is amazing.
SV: Can you tell us about your steeplechase event? How did it feel to earn a personal record?
SG: The steeplechase is a medley of distance running and hurdles. It is seven and half laps around the track, with four barriers and one water jump per lap. I love it because racing feels like an obstacle course of a sort. However, it is important to pace yourself in this event because if you start too fast you will really feel terrible in the latter part of the race, which was a mistake I made the first time [I competed in this event]. I knew if I started more controlled, I could pace myself better, so getting a new personal record at Ursinus was something I was pretty certain of.
SV: Which meet are you looking forward to most this season?
SG: I am looking forward to Conference Championships. It is the meet we train for all season, and I am excited to see what our team can do when we start to taper from all the hard work we have put in.
SV: What are some of the team’s goals for the season?
SG: We are looking to score as many points as possible at Conference Championships and gain a lot of personal records along the way. This means maintaining the delicate balance of training hard while avoiding injury so we can all compete at a high level in a few weeks.
SV: What are some of your personal goals for the season?
SG: When setting goals for myself, I try to think about the long-term, so most of my goals this season are really just steps toward my larger goals I have for my four years running at Swarthmore. Before I graduate, I plan on qualifying for Nationals and winning All-American in the steeplechase as well as setting new school records in the steeple, the 800-meter [race], and the triple jump. In order to do this, I am focusing on competing my best this season, so I can be even closer to achieving these goals in future seasons.
SV: Do you have any pre- or post-meet rituals?
SG: In true Swarthmore fashion, any time I have before or after my events at track meets is spent doing school work. I genuinely look forward to meet days because I know I will be able to get a lot of studying done.
SV: Why did you choose Swarthmore?
SG: Ultimately, I chose Swarthmore because of the people here. When I visited campus last spring, I immediately noticed that every student here had something they were passionate about, but at the same time, they were very down to earth and realistic. I knew that the students here were the kind of people I wanted to have classes with, train with, and learn from. That is why I decided to commit to Swarthmore.
SV: What is your favorite Dining Center bar?
SG: I am a big fan of the new sandwich station! I almost exclusively eat a sandwich with soup for lunch everyday.
