Season Statistics & Record Book | Big Sky Notes

PORTLAND, Ore. - While the rest of the team takes a weekend's break from competition, junior Joenisha Vinson will hope to qualify for the Big Sky Championship in the heptathlon as she competes at the Mt. Sac Relays Multis Competition in Asuza, Calif. Vinson competed in her first heptathlon at the same event last year.

MONDO INVITATIONAL RECAP:
In case you missed it last weekend, the Vikings had one of their most successful weekends of the season at the Mondo Invitational Saturday April 9. Portland State went on to set two school-records, the eighth overall this season, and won three events in Sacramento, Calif.

Junior Sean Mackelvie was 6.5 feet shy of setting a program-record in the javelin when he popped a throw of 221-4 to win the event. The Wilsonville native improved his season-best by 21 feet and 10 inches.

Senior Karene King arguably had one of the best weekends of her Viking career, finishing first in the 200-meters (24.18), second in the 100-meters (11.67) and aiding the 4x100 relay (45.24) to a first-place finish, recording personal-bests in all three events. Other members of the 4x100 included Geronne Black, Anaiah Rhodes and Joenisha Vinson.

King, Rhodes, Vinson and transfer Dominique Maloney, in only her second track meet with the Vikings, destroyed the PSU 4x400-meter relay record when they recorded a time of three minutes, 47.81 seconds to finish fifth overall.

Two more athletes qualified for the Big Sky Championships in sophomores Nate Lightner (400-meter hurdles) and Amber Rozcicha (800-meters). Lightner, who was .40 seconds shy of qualifying in the event at the Willamette Invitational, ran a 55.37 to qualify for the championship Sacramento. Rozcicha qualified for her second event of the championship with her 800-meters time of 2:16.89, after qualifying in the 5,000-meters at Willamette.

QUICK REWIND - CAL MULTI:
Generally Northwest universities head to California during spring break to get some sun and heat, and stay away from the rain and cold - not to stay in the rain and cold. Unfortunately for the Vikings, the weather was cold, rainy and windy in Berkeley, Calif., for the Cal Multi Event March 22-23.

However, the conditions did not stop PSU athletes J.J. Rosenberg and Joenisha Vinson from posting solid numbers and times on day one of the event. Vinson finished day one with 3,021 points and was in second-place as the top-collegiate in the event, behind professional Sharon Day. Vinson's top-performance came in the 200-meters with a time of 24.81 seconds, the best time of her career.

Rosenberg finished the first day with a score 3,213 points and in ninth-place. the Pendleton native highlighted the first five events by winning the 400-meters with a 49.62. Day two was cancelled for the "A groups" of the decathlon and heptathlon due to high winds and heavy rain at the event, leaving Vinson 879 points shy of Big Sky qualification and Rosenberg 2,787 shy of the conference bench mark.

Here's what Vinson did on her first day:

Vinson's Day One Scores:
100m hurdles | 14.25 | 943 pts
High jump | 4-11.75 | 644 pts
Shot put | 32-10.25 | 530 pts
200m | 24.81 | 904 pts
Total: 3,021 pts

THE FIELD IS STACKED:
The Mt. Sac Relays heptathlon competitions features seven professionals, three collegiate national qualifiers and defending NCAA champion, Brianne Theisen of Oregon. Professional Sharon Day, whom Joenisha Vinson trailed at the Cal Multi for second-place, is also in this year's field.

Vinson will be competing in the California Invitational portion of the competition against several Big Sky athletes in the event.

VINSON AND HER SHOT AT THE TITLE:
Junior Joenisha Vinson will attempt to break another Portland State record this weekend, the heptathlon, at the Mt. Sac Relay in Asuza, Calif. Vinson already owns or shares school's records in seven events: 55-meter hurdles, 60-meter hurdles, 100-meter hurdles, pentathlon, 4x100-meter relay and the indoor and outdoor 4x400-meter relays.

Former Viking Robin Unger (1992-96), a two-time national champion in the event, holds the PSU record with a score of 5,356 points. She won NCAA titles in 1995 and 1996. She won her second championship with a broken bone in her foot. Unger competed in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in the heptathlon and finished 15th.

In her last full heptathlon, the 2010 Big Sky Championship, Vinson finished fourth with an overall score of 5,004 points. Here's what Vinson did last time in the heptathlon:

Event | Mark | Score
100m hurdes | 14.12 | 961 points
High Jump | 5-1.50 | 689 points
Shot put | 32-5 | 522 points
200m | 25.07 | 880 points
Long jump | 18-6.75 | 747 points
Javelin | 104-9 | 512 points
800m | 2:30.00 | 693 points
Total score: 5,004 points

THE GOOD ARE GETTING GREAT:
The Portland State women's 4x100 relay team recorded the best time in school- history at the Mondo Invitational, clocking a time of 45.24 seconds.

The quartet of Geronne Black, Karene King, Anaiah Rhodes and Joenisha Vinson improved their season-best time by .68 seconds and trail the conference record, set by Cal State Northridge in1999, by .42 seconds.

They also rank 26th in the West region and 51st nationally, taking into consideration that some schools have multiple relay combinations in the top-50.

TCU has four different teams ranked in the top-20 in the region, while Houston also has three teams in the top-20.

BIG SKY QUALIFIERS:
The athletes listed below have posted times or distances that qualify them for the Big Sky Outdoor Championship in Sacramento, Calif., May 11-14. The Vikings have met 20 qualifying standards this season with 16 athletes representing Portland State, not including the relay teams.

WOMEN
NAME | EVENT(S)
Geronne Black | 100m, 200m
Katie Blue | 10,000m
Allison Burkett | Javelin
Adrienne Davis | Shot put
Karene King | 100m, 200m
Mikeya Nicholson | Triple jump
Anaiah Rhodes | 100m
Amber Rozcicha | 800m, 5,000m
Joenisha Vinson | 100m hurdles, 200m

MEN
NAME | EVENT(S)
Jeff Borgerson | High jump
Tony Crisofulli | 800m
John Lawrence | 3000m steeplechase
Nate Lightner | 400m hurdles
Sean Mackelvie | javelin
Andrew Salg | 10,000m
DeShawn Shead | 110m hurdles

NEXT UP:
The Vikings will return to action April 22 and 23 for the Brutus Hamilton Invitational, hosted by California.