BOZEMAN, Mont. - Day one of the Big Sky Championship concluded this evening with one bronze medal for Portland State and the opportunity to win more medals tomorrow on the final day. Sophomore Joenisha Vinson gritted her way to a bronze in the pentathlon with her 3,579 score. She is the first medalist for PSU in the pentathlon since 2007 (Ashley Quay 3,622).

"The day as a whole was full of ups and downs," said Head Coach Ronnye Harrison, "but there was some really outstanding things today. Coach (Seth) Henson coached great and he got the job done today in multis."

The first half of day one action consisted of multi-events with the women's pentathlon and men's heptathlon, both getting the early start at 9 a.m. Senior Nick Trubachik started the day for the Vikings in the 55-meter with an 6.84, the tenth-fastest time in Portland State history.

Following the men's 55-meter race came the women's 55-meter hurdles in the pentathlon. Vinson wowed the crowd and fellow coaches with her lightning time of 7.99, the only time under eight seconds and the fastest in PSU history by .22. The Phoenix, Ariz., native recorded personal bests in all five of her events.

"Joenisha's time in the hurdles is unbelievable. If I could get all my athletes to PR by two-tenths of a second every week… (Portland State) would be headed to nationals with seven athletes," said coach Harrison. "She set the tone with her performance in the hurdles."

Vinson continued her march to bronze with a 5-1.25 in the high jump and followed with a a 34-10.5 heave in the shot put, an improvement of over seven feet. Her previous best was 27-10.25.

Right after her performance in the shot put, Vinson recorded the fourth-best mark in the long jump with her 18-0.25 jump. The athletes were then given a 2.5 hour break before the final event, the 800-meter race. She sat in fourth-place.

The final event would test Vinson's true grit, as her best time in the 800-meter going in to the event was a 2:53.26 at the UW Invitational Jan. 29. The sophomore worked her way around the track and as she started her third lap, Montana's Lindsay Hall fell to give Vinson a large lead over her direct superior in the standings, Hall.

Though Vinson tired on the last lap, she still finished with a 2:35.67 to finish ninth in the race, make up the 69 point deficit and finish third in the pentathlon. She finished with a score of 3,579. Harrison added "As an athlete, Joenisha is one of the best on the team. When you get people like that on your team, they can step up when other people can't."

"I didn't expect this," said Vinson about her bronze medal, "I entered the event ranked ninth… It feels great.

Back in the men's multis, Trubachik followed up with a personal-best in the long jump, 22-4.25. "(The long jump) felt great, it's something we've been working on for awhile, making breakthroughs here and there and it finally came out today."

In his final two events of the day in the heptathlon, the shot put and high jump, Trubachik finished second and tied for first respectively with a 43-5.75 and 6-7, the second-best mark at Portland State. Trubachik finished the day in first-place with a score of 3,026 points. He holds a 73 point lead ahead of the Montana State's Asa Steven, the Big Sky's top-performer this season.

"It feels really good," said Trubachik about being No. 1 in the standings, "I know that tomorrow is going to be a really tough competition."

In other action today, junior Adrienne Davis had a breakthrough performance in the shot put. As the lone thrower for the Vikings at this year's championships, Davis set her season best with a 45-11.5 to finish seventh in the event. "Adreinne stepped up to who we thought she could be," said coach Harrison, "she could step up and be 50 foot shot put thrower for us in the future."

Senior Jordan Brown entered the long jump competition as a sleeper in the event. Brown went on to the win the first flight in the competition and finished in a tie for seventh with a 22-10, breaking his old PR by two feet to earn two points.

As a team, the women are currently in eighth place with a score of nine points, an eight point lead over Northern Colorado. The men trail the Bears by 1.5 points in ninth place.

Senior Amirah Karim recorded an 18-8.5 in the long jump to advance to finals in the event. However, the senior was not able to best her jump in the preliminary round and closed out her indoor career with a ninth-place finish at the Big Sky Championship.

The Vikings qualified individuals for tomorrow's finals in the 55-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter and 55-meter hurdles. Sophomore Geronne Black and junior Karene King are currently ranked fourth and second, respectively heading into tomorrows finals. Black fell short of season-best in the 200-meter today and King was disqualified after stepping on the lines in her lane.

Newcomer Nate Lightner posted a 49.06, a new personal-best for him in the 400-meter, to finish ninth in the race due to the disqualification of Weber State's Cylor Morgan. Lightner will compete in tomorrows final.

Sophomore Tony Crisofulli finished third in the 800-meter preliminary race today with a 1:52.49.

Coach Harrison closed day one by saying "I expect to see Nick (Trubachik) qualify for nationals, he's earned it. After some of the adversity today in the 200-meter, I expect Geronne and Karene to appear on the podium tomorrow. I expect Joenisha to be back on the podium and Mikeya Nicholson, who was a silver medalist last, could get back if she puts some things together."

For on-demand videos from the meet, visit the Portland State Vikings Fan Page on Facebook with the links at the top of the page.