Spotlight athlete of the week

Junior first baseman Jana Rae Slayton leads the Vikings with a .368 batting average and has four home runs and 28 RBIs. She went 6-12 with a homer and five RBIs in a four-game series against St. Mary’s last weekend. Slayton is from Mt. Vernon, Wash.

Why did you choose to come to PSU?I decided to come here because I liked the area. We play a really good schedule. We play UW, UO. I came here and it just felt right.

What do you like best about Portland? It’s a lot different than where I’m from. People are just really friendly.

How would your teammates describe you? They would tell you I’m always laughing with a smile on my face. I’m a pretty laid-back person. I just laugh a lot.

What’s your favorite memory of being on this team? Probably when we were able to beat OSU, UO and UW. It was the first time we beat UW in our history and we did it on their home field. That’s probably my favorite memory.

What was the key behind breaking out this year? Just a lot of hard work. We have really good coaches and they’ve been able to help me. I’ve worked some things here and there, tweaked them. It’s my third year. After you play a couple years, you just get some more experience.

Talk about your stellar defense. I don’t get as many groundballs as the other infielders. My main role is just to catch whatever comes to me.

Where do you like to eat on campus? I really like Mazatlan, which is up Burnside. If I had to go on campus, it’s probably Big Town Hero. I’m not a big Chipotle fan. I’m the one who goes to Chipotle and gets the chips.

What was the last thing you cooked? I don’t cook. I don’t know, probably a bowl of cereal. I’m not a big cooker.

Who would you take a bullet for? I don’t know, probably my family and my teammates.

Do you read the Vanguard? Yes. I read it when I see it, if it’s sitting there.