Complete meet notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State track & field team opens its 2016 outdoor season in its own backyard this weekend, as the Vikings head to the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open this Friday and Saturday.
 
The men's and women's javelin and hammer throws will be contested Friday at Clackamas Community College, while the rest of the events will take place Saturday at Eldon Fix Track at Griswold Stadium on the Lewis & Clark College campus.
 
This weekend's meet will be the only chance Viking fans will have to see their team in the Portland area this season. The Vikings will be in Oregon for four meets in April and May, but won't compete in Portland again after Saturday.
 
The switch to the outdoor season opens up the event schedule for the Vikings, as the Vikings add athletes in the throws and distance events.
 
Senior Amanda Boman will be one of the Vikings' biggest additions during the outdoor season, as she didn't compete during the indoor season, but was an All-Big Sky performer during the fall cross country season. Boman will make her 2016 debut in the 5,000 meters at the meet Saturday.
 
Saturday's meet will also be the first action for the Vikings' two indoor Big Sky champions in sophomore Spenser Schmidt and freshman ChaQuinn Cook.
 
Schmidt won the Big Sky title in the men's long jump with a huge PR of 24-07.00 (7.49m), and will compete in the long jump again Saturday.
 
Cook, meanwhile, will compete in her first outdoor triple jump Saturday after winning the Big Sky title in the indoor version of the event with a personal best of 40-01.50 (12.23m). Cook is also an accepted entry in the women's high jump, an event she did not compete in at all during the indoor season.
 
The meet gets underway at 3 p.m. (PT) Friday, with the Vikings competing in the men's hammer and women's javelin. The Vikings then get started with the women's long jump at 9 a.m. (PT) Saturday, while running events start with the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase at 11 a.m. (PT).
 
MEET INFORMATION:
March 18-19 – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open – Portland, Ore. (Eldon Fix Track at Griswold Stadium)*
 
*The throws events on Friday, the 18th, will be held at Clackamas Community College
 
LEWIS & CLARK SPRING BREAK OPEN SCHEDULE
Friday, March 18 (at Clackamas CC)
Field Events
Start (PT)                  Event (PSU accepted entries)
~After 3 p.m.               Men's Hammer Throw – Following the women (Dent)
~After 3 p.m.               Women's Javelin Throw – Following the men (Buss, Pellecer, Wilson)
 
Saturday, March 19
Field Events
Start (PT)                  Event (PSU accepted entries)
9 a.m.                          Women's Long Jump (Richey, Settle, Williams)
                                    Men's Long Jump – Following the women (Schmidt, Toku)
9 a.m.                          Women's High Jump (Cook, Garrity)
                                    Men's High Jump – Following the women (Stipic, Tufty)
~After 10 a.m.             Men's Discus Throw – Following the women (Dent)
~After Men's LJ           Women's Triple Jump (Cook, Richey)
                                    Men's Triple Jump – Following the women (Toku)
 
Running Events (Events will move ahead of schedule when possible)
Start (PT)                  Event (PSU accepted entries)
11 a.m.                        Women's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase (Coleman, De Luca, Gibson)
11:35 a.m.                  Women's 4x100-Meter Relay (Portland Sate 'A' – Vinjamuri, Settle, Anderson, Diggs)
11:40 a.m.                  Men's 4x100-Meter Relay (Portland State 'A' – Schmidt, Prince, Pfefferkorn, Gable)
11:50 a.m.                  Women's 1,500 Meters (Beng)
12:10 p.m.                  Men's 1,500 Meters (Hicks, Seibert)
12:30 p.m.                  Women's 100-Meter Hurdles (Anderson)
12:50 p.m.                  Men's 110-Meter Hurdles (Robinson, D., Robinson, K.)
1:15 p.m.                    Women's 400 Meters (Diggs, Miller, Tollefson)
1:25 p.m.                    Men's 400 Meters (Pfefferkorn, Wood)
1:45 p.m.                    Women's 100 Meters (Richey, Williams)
2:10 p.m.                    Men's 100 Meters (Gable, Schmidt, Toku)
3 p.m.                          Men's 800 Meters (Richardson, Russell)
3:50 p.m.                    Women's 200 Meters (Anderson, Settle, Toliver, Vinjamuri)
4:15 p.m.                    Men's 200 Meters (Gable, Prince, Wood)
4:40 p.m.                    Women's 5,000 Meters (Boman, Martin, Medved, Reynolds, Trapp)
5:30 p.m.                    Men's 5,000 Meters (Cisneros, Cotton, Wikler)
 
COMING UP:
The Vikings head to San Diego, Calif., for the San Diego State Aztec Invitational March 25-26.
 
2016 INDOOR RECAP:
The Portland State track & field team's 2016 indoor season ended with a pair of Big Sky titles for the Vikings, as sophomore Spenser Schmidt and freshman ChaQuinn Cook claimed the Big Sky titles in the men's long jump and women's triple jump, respectively. Schmidt won his Big Sky title with a huge personal best of 24-07.00 (7.49m), more than a foot better than his personal best entering the meet. Schmidt's win in the long jump marked the Vikings' first Big Sky indoor title in the event since 2003, and also gave Schmidt the best mark by a Viking since Brown set the school record at 24-08.50 (7.53m) that same year. Cook, meanwhile, became the first Viking female athlete to win a Big Sky title in the indoor triple jump since 2005. Cook beat her nearest competitor by over a foot, cracking 40 feet for a personal best of 40-01.50 (12.23m). The Vikings also got seven more All-Big Sky performances, including two each for sophomore Ta'mara Richey and junior Genna Settle. Richey placed third in both the long jump and triple jump at the meet, while Settle earned All-Big Sky honors with a second-place finish in the 60 meters and a third-place finish in the 200 meters. Settle now has five All-Big Sky honors in her Portland State career, the most of any current Viking athlete. Juniors Akayla Anderson and Whitney Diggs also earned All-Big Sky honors with second-place finishes in the 60-meter hurdles and 400 meters, respectively. Ben Richardson pulled off the biggest surprise at the Big Sky meet, as he finished third in the 800 meters to earn All-Big Sky honors in an event in which he entered the meet ranked 14th in the Big Sky. Senior Rockwell Tufty did not earn All-Big Sky honors as he placed fourth in the high jump, but broke the school record in the event with a clearance of 6-09.50 (2.07m). Tufty's record gives him sole possession of both the indoor and outdoor records at Portland State, making him indisputably the best high jumper in school history.
 
BIG SKY QUALIFYING STANDARDS:
The Vikings' outdoor season opener will give the team's athletes their first chance to hit Big Sky qualifying standards this season. Qualifying marks assure an athlete of competing in the Big Sky Outdoor Championships, which will take place in Greeley, Colo., from May 12-14. The top 20 declared student-athletes in each event will qualify for the meet, except in the multi-events, where the top 16 declared student-athletes will make the meet.