FULL RESULTS (INCLUDING LIVE RESULTS)

MOSCOW, Idaho – On the biggest stage in collegiate track and field, Idaho’s own Katja Pattis proved why she belonged. 

Halfway through the second day of the competition in Eugene, OR, Pattis got her opportunity to compete in the 3,000m Steeplechase, which she had steadily improved at all season long. 

Multiple personal bests, improving upon her standing of second all-time in school history, and all-conference honors with a second-place finish at the Big Sky Championships in Sacramento. 

Her then-PR of 10:03.05, topping her old best of 10:04.33, now stands as the third-best time in her career, as Pattis only continued to set new highs. Earning a bid to the NCAA West Regionals in College Station alongside Mia Sylvester and Constanze Paoli, she would finish in the top-12, raising her own bar clocked at 10:02.04. 

With this, she became the first Idaho athlete to earn a bid to the NCAA Championships since 2022, and the first female Vandal to do so since 2016. 

On Thursday, the best DI runners in the country gathered for the steeplechase, representing institutions such as Alabama, Washington, Texas A&M, and Idaho. Among them, Pattis ran in the 3,000m Steeplechase one last time to conclude her career as a Vandal, and she finished it the way she started it: surpassing expectations. 

Katja set her fourth personal-best time in as many opportunities, finished under ten-minutes for the first time in her career at 9:57.34. Originally holding the no. 31 time in the NCAA, Pattis rose all the way to finish 18th on Thursday, nearly twice as well as she was initially ranked. Her sub-10 minute time is only the second ever in school history, and the first since 2003. 

Finishing her Vandal career as strongly as she could, Katja left a historic mark on the program, and her head coach Tracy Hellman was beyond proud of his runner. 

“What a tremendous finish to an outstanding career for Katja,” remarked Hellman. “She not only finished with a lifetime PR but also finished better than she was ranked!” She showed that she is one of the top steeplechase athletes in the NCAA. She will leave Idaho as one of our all-time greats and our program is better because of her.”

The program had an outdoor season to be proud of, capped off by Pattis’ run in Eugene but bolstered by the efforts of numerous athletes in multiple events. With eight all-conference Vandals, multiple marks rewritten in the record books, and an All-American performance in Tracktown, Idaho Track and Field has a lot to look forward to. Hellman captured it best when he said:

“As always, it’s a great day to be a Vandal.”

FOLLOW THE VANDALS

To stay up to date with Idaho Track and Field, follow the team on instagram (idahotrack) and visit govandals.com

SHREWSBURY –

“It looked like a bomb went off.”

That is how Jack Everett ’25 described driving through the aftermath of the Palisades Fire, overwhelmed at what he was seeing.

“Everything was gone,” he said about the blackened remains of cars and the crumbling chimneys marking what used to be homes. “It was surreal.”

Everett, who works as a lifeguard in Los Angeles County, had just started his final term as an environmental science major at Redlands when the Palisades Fire broke out. He was among the trained first responders in the county who received an emergency hire email.

“They were stretched so thin and needed support from all trained personnel,” he said. “It just so happened that my dad, Joe Everett, who works for the L.A. City Fire Department, was named incident commander.”

What followed was a weeks-long mobilization testing Everett’s resilience as he answered the call to serve. While fire fighters battled the blaze, Everett worked to manage logistics at base camp, including coordinating public donations for those effected by the growing devastation. Drawing on knowledge gained from majoring in environmental science and minoring in spatial studies, Everett quickly understood that what he was witnessing was not only a tragedy, but a climate-driven phenomenon.

“It was unusually hot for January, with high winds and relatively low humidity—a deadly combination for a big fire,” he said. “Even though fires can naturally occur and Southern California has a season for it, you have to account for wind topography, which I think is the biggest thing with fires. They move faster when going uphill, and the wind contributed to spreading the fire across the hills in the Santa Monica Mountains and the Palisades.”

With an understanding of the environmental impacts at play, Everett had to mentally prepare for the intensity of the situation. Drawing on his experience as an attacker on the Redlands’ water polo team helped him stay focused and ready to respond.

“I was working with other lifeguards—some I knew well and others not at all, so making sure we were on the same page about what we’re doing was like the common goal you have playing water polo,” he said. “You have to be strong mentally, stay calm, and have grace under pressure, all things my coach Ryan Hall emphasized.”

Throughout the experience, Everett found glimpses of hope. He visited the Pacific Palisades Fire Station where his uncle worked and watched firefighters from different stations come together to build a “Palisades Strong” sign. Another fortunate discovery came when Everett came upon the house his grandfather grew up in—the only one on the block not destroyed.

“Even though the house isn’t in the family anymore, it still holds sentimental value and seeing it still standing was incredible,” he said.

Reflecting on lessons learned at U of R and the destruction he witnessed during the fire, Everett is now exploring a future with L.A. County’s forestry unit.  

“It’s a way to combine my environmental science and spatial background, with my first responder certifications, knowledge, and being of service,” he said. “With how big the topic of climate change has become, I think one of the more important things right now than environmental education—because this is where we live and our future depends on caring for it.”

Learn how Redlands prepares students to serve in critical moments—discover Environmental Science at Redlands.

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