Former Hornet starring on Linfield track

Olivia Bannerot continues to accumulate honors, having taken her athletic abilities from the halls of Enumclaw High to the campus of Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore.

Olivia Bannerot continues to accumulate honors, having taken her athletic abilities from the halls of Enumclaw High to the campus of Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore.

One of the most decorated student-athletes to graduate from EHS in recent years, Bannerot now shines as a multi-talented member of the Wildcats’ track and field program.

The latest honor for the former Hornet came March 28 when Bannerot was named the Northwest Conference Women’s Field Student-Athlete of the Week. It was the second time the Linfield sophomore has captured the conference honor, which is decided by a vote of NWC sports information directors.

The honor came after Bannerot registered the second-highest heptathlon point total (4,479) in Linfield history while placing second at a meet at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif. In moving from No. 7 to No. 2 on Linfield’s performance list, she added 430 points to her previous career best and posted personal records in six of seven events. She won the javelin with a toss of 126 feet, 6 inches; finished second in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 3.25 inches; and was fourth in the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 3.5 inches. Other career-best performances were achieved in the 100-meter hurdles (16.12 seconds), 200 meters (27.36) and 800 meters (2:33.37).

In addition to moving up on Linfield’s all-time performance list in the heptathlon, Bannerot also improved from sixth to fifth in the long jump and cracked the Top 10 in both the javelin (eighth) and the high jump (tied for ninth).

Her heptathlon score is the best in the NCAA Division III this spring by 264 points.

Collegiate success isn’t exactly new for Bannerot, who is a nursing major at Linfield. Last year, as a freshman, she was the heptathlon runner-up, finished eighth in the high jump and ran on Linfield’s top-five 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams at the 2015 NWC Championships.

Bannerot kept plenty busy during her years at Enumclaw High. She earned 12 letters in volleyball, cheerleading, gymnastics and track and field, eventually serving as team captain in all four. She was both an individual champion and sparked the Hornets to a team title in gymnastics.

The Northwest Conference is comprised of nine private colleges and universities. Aside from Linfield College, members include Lewis and Clark College, George Fox University, Pacific University and Willamette University, all in Oregon, and Pacific Lutheran University, the University of Puget Sound, Whitman College and Whitworth University in Washington.