Scott Swanson
Bethany Gingerich signed a letter of intent Tuesday, May 1, to compete for George Fox University in track and field.
Gingerich has competed for Sweet Home in multiple sports, Athletic Director Steve Brown told a crowd of students and teachers in the school library, noting that the list includes basketball, which he was coaching at the time.
“She’s a ball of fire,” he said. “I know track is her main love and I’m excited for her to go on to the next step in her life, as far as running is concerned. She’s a good example of what an athlete is at Sweet Home.”
Gingerich said she chose George Fox, in Newberg, for its “atmosphere and the people.”
She said she was looking to attend a small, private college and “I thought I wanted to go to a Christian school, which is where my base would be.”
After visiting both George Fox and Whitworth, in Spokane, Wash., where other recent Sweet Home graduates have attended, she decided on the former.
“They’re all relationship-based,” she said of the school. “I really enjoy the team, not just for sports, but for all the people there.
“When I went there, everybody was opening the door for me and saying ‘Hi.’ I had no idea who these people were. I really appreciated that and I look for a small, close community in a college