RESULTS
DAY ONE RECAP

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State track & field team hit nine Big Sky qualifying standards during the entire 2016 indoor season. Saturday, on their first full day of the outdoor season, the Vikings hit eight. Not a bad way to start the year, as the Vikings opened the outdoor season in earnest at the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open at the Eldon Fix Track at Griswold Stadium.
 
Senior Amanda Boman, junior Genna Settle, sophomore Ta'mara Richey and freshman ChaQuinn Cook hit qualifying standards in the women's 5,000 meters, 200 meters, long jump and triple jump, respectively, while sophomore Spenser Schmidt and freshman Jean-Luc Toku hit the standards in the men's long jump and triple jump, and senior Spencer Russell and junior Ben Richardson each ducked under the qualifying time in the men's 800 meters. The Vikings also won eight events at the meet, including three outside of the team's eight qualifying standards.
 
For Cook and Schmidt, who won the Big Sky titles in the women's indoor triple jump and men's indoor long jump, respectively, Saturday represented a continuation of their strong finish to the indoor season.
 
Cook won the women's triple jump Saturday with a personal-best mark of 40-03.25 (12.27m), close to two inches better than her Big Sky-winning mark of 40-01.50 (12.23m) in the indoor triple jump. Cook's mark makes her the clear favorite within the Big Sky in the early season, and also puts her in contention to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary, as she currently ranks sixth in the west region after Saturday. Additionally, Cook vaults up to fourth all-time in the outdoor triple jump at Portland State with her mark Saturday, just one outdoor meet into her Viking career.
 
Schmidt, meanwhile, won the men's long jump with an outdoor personal best of 24-03.50 (7.40m), which beat the No. 2 mark in the event Saturday by nearly a foot and a half. Like Cook, Schmidt's mark makes him the early favorite in the Big Sky, and puts him in contention for a spot at the NCAA West Preliminary. Schmidt currently ranks sixth in the west region in the men's long jump, and Schmidt's mark would have qualified him for the regional meet last season, as the 48th-best mark in the region in 2015 – the cut off for the regional meet – was 24-02.25 (7.37m), more than an inch behind Schmidt's mark Saturday.
 
Freshman Jean-Luc Toku also won the men's triple jump Saturday, as he jumped a personal-best 47-07.25 (14.51m) on his first attempt of the day. Toku's mark represents the best mark in the men's triple jump in 43 years, as it ranks second only to the school record Don Hall set at 48-06.00 (14.78m) in 1973.
 
Besides the Vikings' wins in the jumps, Boman capped the day with a decisive win in the 5,000 meters, as she blew away the field to win by 20 seconds over teammate Sarah Medved. Boman crossed the line in 17:08.25 to Medved's 17:28.45, which also bettered the Big Sky-leading time of 17:14.26 Weber State's Hailey Whetten set earlier in the day. Additionally, Boman's time moves the senior up to seventh all-time at Portland State in the outdoor 5,000, while Medved's time puts her just outside of the top 10.
 
Settle posted her own dominant win in the women's 200 meters, beating Oregon State's Kerissa D'Arpino, who place second, by over two-tenths of a second, while also beating the No. 3 time in the event by close to six-tenths of a second. Settle finished the 200 in 24.45 seconds Saturday, putting her a quarter of a second ahead of her season-opening time last outdoor season, and beating her 2016 indoor seasonal best of 24.48 seconds.
 
Richey, a three-time All-Big Sky performer already as a sophomore, did not win her event, but picked up the Big Sky qualifying mark in the women's long jump while cracking 19 feet for the fourth time in her Portland State career with a finishing mark of 19-02.50 (5.85m). Richey's mark placed her second in the competition Saturday, but beat the conference-leading mark going into the meet, as she moved past Sacramento State's Nirie Boglino, who set the early season standard at 18-05.75 (5.63m) last weekend.
 
Richardson and Russell, meanwhile, each finished under the Big Sky qualifying time in the men's 800 meters while competing in the fastest section of the two-lap event Saturday. Richardson, who is coming off a surprise third-place finish at the 2016 Big Sky indoor meet – a meet he entered ranked 14th in the Big Sky in the 800 – continued his hot streak in the 800 Saturday with a personal-best finish of 1:52.29. Richardson's time beat the Big Sky-leading time of 1:52.46 Weber State's Josh Hartford set earlier in the day, and moved him up to sixth all-time in the event at Portland State.
 
Russell also came close to his Portland State best with his finish in 1:53.24 Saturday, good enough to place him third in the conference so far behind Richardson and Hartford.
 
The Vikings also had three event winners outside of the Big Sky qualifiers Saturday, starting with the first event of the day on the track, the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, which freshman Kaila Anna Gibson won to start the day off right for the Vikings. Gibson beat the University of Portland's Emily Peterson by close to twenty seconds, winning in 11:22.05 to Peterson's 11:41.57. Gibson moves up to third all-time in the event with her time Saturday, just behind teammate Maggie Coleman, who finished the event fourth in 11:43.85.
 
The Vikings followed with another win in the men's 4x100-meter relay shortly after Gibson's win in the steeplechase, as Schmidt, Sheldon Prince, Hunter Pfefferkorn and Mitchell Gable beat the field by nearly a full second. The Vikings finished in 41.79 seconds Saturday, putting them well ahead of No. 2, Saint Martin's, which finished in 42.51.
 
Schmidt also ran the fastest 100 meters he's ever run at Portland State later in the day, finishing in 10.83 seconds to beat his best time from his freshman season by half a second. Gable shaved three-tenths of a second off his personal best in the 100 as well, finishing in 11.06 seconds.
 
Diggs posted perhaps the Vikings' most dominant win in the women's 400 meters, however, as she beat the field by well over a full second. Diggs finished in 56.40 seconds, nearly 1.5 seconds ahead of Seattle's Pacific's Cheryl Hong, who finished second in 57.78.
 
The Vikings will now look to build on their promising start to the outdoor season, as they head to the San Diego State Aztec Invitational next weekend, March 25-26.
 
PSU BIG SKY QUALIFYING STANDARDS
Women:
Amanda Boman – 5,000m – 17:08.25 – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)*
ChaQuinn Cook – Triple Jump – 40-03.25 (12.27m) – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)
Ta'mara Richey – Long Jump – 19-02.50 (5.85m) – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)
Genna Settle – 200m – 24.45 – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)
 
Men:
Ben Richardson – 800m – 1:52.29 – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)
Spencer Russell – 800m – 1:53.24 – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)
Spenser Schmidt – Long Jump – 24-03.50 (7.40m) – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)
Jean-Luc Toku – Triple Jump – 47-07.25 (14.51m) – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)
 
*Time cross-qualifies athlete for the 5,000 and 10,000 meters
 
Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open
Clackamas CC (Friday); Eldon Fix Track at Griswold Stadium (Saturday)
Clackamas, Ore. (Friday); Portland, Ore. (Saturday)
March 18-19, 2016
 
Women's Results:
100m: 2. Rachel Vinjamuri, 12.47; 9. Dejuanae Toliver, 12.76. 200m: 1. Genna Settle, 24.45; 3. Whitney Diggs, 25.04; 5. Dejuanae Toliver, 25.40; 7. Rachel Vinjamuri, 25.56. 400m: 1. Whitney Diggs, 56.40; 4. Roazena Miller, 58.32; 9. Kris Tollefson, 59.53. 1,500m: 15. Nyalual Beng, 4:42.33. 5,000m: 1. Amanda Boman, 17:08.25; 2. Sarah Medved, 17:28.45; 10. Cheryn Trapp, 18:13.42; 16. Kennedy Martin, 19:03.30; 19. Jocelyn Reynolds, 19:39.20. 100m Hurdles: Akayla Anderson, DNS. 3,000m Steeplecase: 1. Kaila Ann Gibson, 11:22.05; 4. Maggie Coleman, 11:43.85; 5. Nevina De Luca, 11:47.23. High Jump: 9. Hannah Garrity, 4-11.50 (1.51m); 14. ChaQuinn Cook, 4-07.50 (1.41m). Long Jump: 2. Ta'mara Richey, 19-02.50 (5.85m); 3. Brandi Williams, 18-06.50 (5.65m); 4. Genna Settle, 18-06.00 (5.64m). Triple Jump: 1. ChaQuinn Cook, 40-03.25 (12.27m); Ta'mara Richey, DNS. Discus: 9. Sydney Johnson, 122-08 (37.38m). Javelin: 9. Maddie Buss, 126-10 (38.65m); 10. Raquel Pellecer, 126-02.50 (38.46m); 26. Shasta Wilson, 108-05.50 (33.05m).
 
Men's Results:
100m: 3. Spenser Schmidt, 10.83; 8. Mitchell Gable, 11.06; 15. Jean-Luc Toku, 11.25. 200m: 2. Sheldon Prince, 22.17; 7. Mitchell Gable, 22.42; 9. Christian Wood, 22.47. 400m: 4. Hunter Pfefferkorn, 49.90; 6. Christian Wood, 50.29. 800m: 3. Ben Richardson, 1:52.29; 4. Spencer Russell, 1:53.24. 1,500m: 18. Neil Seibert, 4:05.00; 32. Jacob Hicks, 4:14.20. 5,000m: 7. Alex Cisneros, 14:53.46; 35. Justin Wikler, 16:33.31; 42. Ethan Cotton, 17:10.73. 110m Hurdles: 3. Kevin Robinson, 15.38; Donté Robinson, DNS. 4x100m Relay: 1. Portland State 'A' (Schmidt, Prince, Pfefferkorn, Gable), 41.79. High Jump: 2. Rockwell Tufty, 6-06.00 (1.98m); 3. Tyson Stipic, 6-02.00 (1.88m). Long Jump: 1. Spenser Schmidt, 24-03.50 (7.40m); T-8. Jean-Luc Toku, 21-11.50 (6.69m). Triple Jump: 1. Jean-Luc Toku, 47-07.25 (14.51m). Discus: 19. Tyler Dent, 121-05.25 (37.01m). Hammer: 8. Tyler Dent, 157-00.50 (47.86m).