More than 3,000 athletes traveled to Spokane, Washington, in December with

a single goal in mind: Junior Olympic gold. Salem College’s own Lauren Meek, a first year student-athlete from Draper, Virginia, flew the 2590 miles to compete in the young women 5K race. Despite the path the race organizers had to plow through the snow and the very cold steady rain during the race, Meek ran well, finishing 49th overall in 22:56. During the regular cross country season, Lauren ran a personal best 21:04 5K and was the 2nd fastest NCAA Division III runner in the state of North Carolina.