SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Junior
Joenisha Vinson finished second in the heptathlon competition with a score of 5,117 points to claim her first silver medal in the event. While on the men's side, freshman
Luke Leddige scored 6,100 points to finish ninth overall. Montana's Lindsay Hall (5,360 points) and Sacramento State's Sam Schurr (7,378) claimed the heptathlon and decathlon championships, respectively.
Vinson recorded a PR in the 800-meters with a time of 2:28.93. After hanging in the middle of the pack for the first lap, she made her charge in the last 300-meters to climb as-high-as third, but fell to eighth by the time she reached the finish line. It was the first time she recorded a time under 2:30. The Phoenix, Ariz., native also recorded distance of 111-8 in the javelin and 17-9.50 in the long jump to finish fifth and third, respectively.
Vinson's score is the highest-recorded by a Viking in the Big Sky Championship, passing Mackenzie Winkle's score of 5,006 points in 2005. Winkle also claimed silver in the heptathlon. Vinson's medal also nets the Vikings eight team points and puts them second overall, three points behind leader, Montana.
Leddige, a native of Beaverton, recorded PR's in the final three event: Pole vault, 12-3.50, javelin, 139-11, and the 1,500-meters. He started with his two primary events, the 110-meter hurdles and the discus, and recorded marks of 15.12 and 119-10, respectively, finishing third in both events.
The first-time decathlete was competing for a chance to qualify for junior nationals and after the javelin competition, knew he needed to score at least 669 points to do so. Leddige needed to run the 1,500-meters in 4:41.86 or better to surpass the qualifying score of 6,250 points. Giving his best effort, he ran 5:07.20 and finished with 6,100 points, moving him to No. 8 all-time. He surpasses former-Viking Jon Hill, now an assistant coach at Eastern Washington.
His score of 6,100 is the third-best by a freshman decathlete at Portland State, trailing former-Viking all-american Nick Trubachik by 346 points for second position.
The Big Sky Championship will resume tomorrow at 1p.m., with the men's hammer. Senior
Adrienne Davis will break the ice for the Viks tomorrow in the shot put, beginning at 2:30 p.m.
Big Sky Multi-Events Championship
May 11-13
Sacramento, Calif. (Alex G. Spanos Athletic Complex)
Final Scores
DECATHLON
1. Sam Schur, SAC, 7378
2. Jeff Mohl, MSU, 7371
3. Brandon Graef, ISU, 7058
4. Asa Staven, MSU, 6993
5. Harley Goedhart, ISU, 6663
6. Kersee Lind, EWU, 6630
7. Chris Hicks, UM, 6465
8. Evan Stokken, UM, 6459
9.
Luke Leddige, PSU, 6100
10. Garret Wood, ISU, 6042
11. William Phillips, ISU, 6025
12. Warren Miller, EWU, 5895
13. Derek Puckett, ISU, 5531
14. Connor Pate, ISU, 5294
15. Trevor White, ISU, 4834
HEPTATHLON
1. Lindsey Hall, UM, 5360
2.
Joenisha Vinson, PSU, 5117
3. Sasha Buylova, 5101
4. Kelly Coomes, NC, 5082
5. Mariah Rogers, SAC, 4833
6. Sarah McGree, MSU, 4753
7. Samantha Berryman, ISU, 4652
8. Melissa Mauro, UM, 4516
9. Carley McCutchen, MSU, 4424
10. Amanda Vink-Johnston, ISU, 4414
11. McKinzie Anderson, ISU, 3909
Lauren Thomas, WSU, DNF
Amylyn Schmidt, WSU, DNF
