RaiLynn Elliott
High School Honors
1 cross country letter.
3 track & field letters: 300m hurdle PIL champion as a junior; PIL and State champion 4x400m relay team as a junior. 400m PIL champion as a senior; 3rd in State; 300m hurdle PIL and State champion, 4x400m relay PIL champion as a Senior. Team Captain as a junior and senior. State and Regional Junior Olympics champion in the 300m hurdles junior and senior years.
Post-High School Career
Clackamas Community College, 1998-99. Broke two track & field indoor records in high jump and 400m dash.
U.S. Army Military Police 2000-02; deployed to Kosovo.
General Studies degree from University of Phoenix, 2010.
For community service, named to Order of Molly Pitcher Field Artillery by U.S. Army, 2006.
Presently a security guard with Allied Universal Security Services assigned to Boeing in Everett, WA.
Commentary
I am filled with an incredible gratitude to be inducted into the Portland Interscholastic League Hall of Fame. This is an honor I never could have imagined when I first laced up my spikes.
When I look back at my time competing in track and field for Benson Polytechnic High School, I don’t just think about the medals or the records. I think about what it meant to represent the blue and orange competitive spirit. Benson Tech teaches you the value of hard work, discipline, and pride. As a hurdler, you learn very quickly that life is all about rhythm, resilience, and how you respond when you clip a barrier. Whether we were enduring freezing, rainy spring practices or pushing through that grueling final straightaway, we did it with that distinct Techman grit.
I want to thank the PIL Selection Committee for this profound recognition. To my coaches —thank you for your technical guidance, for perfecting my lead leg, and for believing in my speed and resilience even when I doubted myself. To my teammates — thank you for the energy, the shared sweat, and for every cheer from the stands. This honor belongs to all of us.
Most importantly, I want to thank my mother. Mom, I wouldn't be standing on this stage without you. Thank you for sitting through those endless, freezing track meets in the unpredictable Portland weather just to watch me race for a matter of seconds at a time, and having to wait for the final race of the night at every meet, the 4x400 relay. Thank you for the early mornings, the late-night laundry, and for being the steady anchor I needed when the pressure got tough. Your unconditional love and belief in me have been the true driving force of my life. This moment is just as much yours as it is mine.
Being inducted is a celebration of a beautiful chapter of my youth. The PIL shapes leaders, tests your limits, and creates lifelong bonds. I am deeply proud to represent Benson Tech tonight, and I am incredibly humbled to stand alongside the legends in this Hall of Fame.
Thank you all so much. Go Techmen!
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