Seth Pilkington considers himself to be a pretty normal college freshman. He is 5-foot-9, quiet, unassuming and kind.
Pilkington’s resumé includes the state cross country championship in Utah his senior year of high school; the one-mile and two-mile state titles his junior and senior years; the No. 2 finisher in the 18th-ranked Oregon cross country team’s first race; and aspirations for being an All-American and an Olympian.
But then again, he’s just a normal freshman.
Pilkington, who hails from Roy, Utah, has had running in his life from the start. His father, Paul, won the 1994 Los Angeles marathon and has been instrumental in Seth’s life and running career.
“He is a huge influence,” Pilkington said. “He coached me all throughout high school, and I trained with him all the way through as well. Ever since I was little, I have grown up around runners and wanted to be one.”
Pilkington said that he talks to his father often and receives running advice. Paul also keeps in contact with Oregon men’s cross country coach Martin Smith to discuss how Seth’s running is advancing.
In the one race he has run so far this season, Pilkington placed second behind junior All-American Jason Hartmann. The Roy Griak Invitational, one of the nation’s largest meets, was Pilkington’s first taste of running against top collegiate competition. He ran in a pack with a couple other Oregon runners and then pulled ahead of teammates Ryan Andrus and Noel Paulson, finishing with a time of 25:01.4 (30 seconds behind Hartmann).
Other than winning the state cross country championships his senior year of high school and winning the one- and two-mile races on the track, Pilkington was sixth at cross country nationals his senior year. His biggest accomplishment, though, was winning the Golden West 3200, where some of the best high school runners were invited. In that race, which featured another future Duck runner Eric Heinonen, Pilkington ran the second fastest time in the country (8:55.17).
Seth sets his sights high, as he said he hopes to be an All-American as a freshman. He appreciates having an All-American, Hartmann, with whom he can train, and he soaks up all the advice he can get from Oregon’s top runner.
“It’s great to have a guy who is an All-American, who knows what it takes to be an All-American and to make it there,” Pilkington said. “He kind of shows me how hard you need to work and what steps you need to take to be an All-American.”
In addition to Seth’s desire to be an All-American, his long term goal is to be an Olympian.
“To take running as far as I can go: That’s my ultimate goal,” Pilkington said. “I know that there are other guys across the country that are training, and it motivates me to think that they are working just as hard and if I work just as hard, I can beat them.”
Pilkington’s teammates at Oregon are pleased to have him on the team.
“Seth, being a true freshman, has stepped it up and will be our No. 2 runner all season,” fellow runner and roommate Andrus said. “It’s not a huge surprise, though, because he came here highly recruited out of high school.”
Even if the accolades of All-American or even Olympian come, Pilkington will probably remain the same soft-spoken “normal” person he is today.