Complete Meet Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — The hard work has been put in. Now's the time for the hardware, as the Portland State track & field team heads to the Big Sky Indoor Championships starting Thursday at the Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho.
 
Practicing outside all winter in the cold hasn't held the Vikings back from having a successful indoor season so far, and the Big Sky Indoor Championships is where the Vikings can cash in on that hard work.
 
The Vikings could be in line for a few individual Big Sky titles, starting with senior Genna Settle, who has strangely never won an individual Big Sky indoor title despite having a hugely successful career at Portland State. Settle was one-hundredth of a second from sweeping the Big Sky titles in the outdoor 100 and 200 meters last season, and is an eight-time All-Big Sky honoree and four-time NCAA regional qualifier outdoors.
 
Settle heads into this year's Big Sky indoor meet as the leader in the 60 meters off her time of 7.55 seconds (7.57 seconds after altitude conversion) at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational on Feb. 10. Settle enters the meet on a strong recent trend in the 60 meters, as she has set a new seasonal best in the 60 meters at her last three meets, while her last five 60-meter times are all clustered between 7.55 and 7.64 seconds.
 
Settle placed second in the 60 meters at last year's Big Sky indoor meet, finishing in 7.54 seconds – three-hundredths of a second behind Eastern Washington's Rebecca Tarbert's winning time of 7.51 seconds.
 
Settle also earned All-Big Sky honors with a third-place finish in the 200 meters last season, and should challenge for a title in the 200 again this season. Settle has led the Big Sky in the 200 meters at times this season, and enters the meet ranked second in the conference after posting her best performance in the indoor 200 meters since 2015 with her finish in 24.27 seconds at the Don Kirby Elite Invite. Settle's time (24.34 seconds after altitude conversion) set a seasonal best in the event by three-tenths of a second, and beat the Big Sky-leading mark at the time by the same margin.
 
Settle will open her portion of the Big Sky meet at 4:50 p.m. (MT) Friday, with the trials of the women's 60 meters. Settle will then return to the track for the trials of the 200 meters at 5:50 p.m. (MT) Friday. Should Settle advance, she'll run in the finals of the 60 and 200 meters at 2:10 p.m. (MT) and 2:55 p.m. (MT) Saturday, respectively. Settle will also run as a member of the Vikings' 4x400-meter relay team at 3:50 p.m. (MT) Saturday.
 
If Settle can pull off a win in the finals of the 60 meters Saturday, then she'll have the chance to become just the second Viking to ever pull off the 60-200-meter double when she toes the line for the 200 meters 45 minutes later. Jernise Saunders currently holds the claim as the only Viking to pull off the double, which she did in 2009.
 
Outside of Settle, the Vikings also have two athletes ranked second in the Big Sky in their respective events in senior Akayla Anderson (women's 60-meter hurdles) and junior Donté Robinson (men's heptathlon).
 
Anderson enters the meet tied for second in the 60-meter hurdles off her time of 8.60 seconds at the season-opening UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 14.
 
Anderson's best this season may have come at the start of the season, but it's not as if she's been slacking ever since. Anderson's run the 60-meter hurdles 10 times this season and all 10 of those times have been between 8.60 and 8.72 seconds.
 
Anderson's time at the UW Indoor Preview also stands as the top non-converted time in the 60-meter hurdles within the Big Sky, as the other three times in the top four have all been converted due to altitude.
 
Anderson has twice placed second in the 60-meter hurdles at the Big Sky Indoor Championships since joining the Vikings ahead of the 2015 indoor season. Anderson placed second to teammate Jazmin Ratcliff in her first year as a Viking in 2015, and placed second to Weber State's Tawnie Moore last year in 2016.
 
Moore enters this year's Big Sky indoor meet with the lead over Anderson, after finishing in 8.49 seconds (8.51 seconds after altitude conversion) at the MSU, ISU, WSU Dual Meet on Feb. 2.
 
Anderson and Moore will first square off in the trials of the 60-meter hurdles at 3:45 p.m. (MT) Friday. Should both advance to the final, then count on some fireworks when they toe the line at 1:25 p.m. (MT) Saturday.
 
Robinson, meanwhile, enters the Big Sky meet ranked second in the heptathlon off his score of 4,900 points at his season opener at the Ed Jacoby Invitational/Multi, Jan. 13-14. Robinson has not completed a full heptathlon since the Ed Jacoby Invite, and his score at the meet was his first completed heptathlon or decathlon ever as a Viking.
 
Nevertheless, Robinson has been busy since that season-opening meet, as he's regularly competed in the 60-meter hurdles, high jump, pole vault, long jump and shot put since then. Robinson has set new personal bests in four of those five events since the heptathlon at the Ed Jacoby Invitational/Multi, and has moved into the top 10 all-time in the high jump and pole vault.
 
Robinson will open the first day of the heptathlon at 11 a.m. (MT) Thursday with the 60 meters, and will open the second day at 10 a.m. (MT) Friday with the 60-meter hurdles. Robinson will also compete in the men's high jump, which starts at 3 p.m. (MT) Friday.
 
The Vikings will also look to athletes ranked outside of the top two in the Big Sky at the indoor meet, something at which they've had success under second-year head coach Brent Ericksen.
 
The best example of a Viking outperforming the performance chart came at last season's Big Sky indoor meet, where then-junior Ben Richardson shocked the field by placing third in the indoor 800 meters. Richardson entered last year's meet ranked 14th in the event, but set a new personal best with his time of 1:53.95 while finishing third overall. Richardson also went on to earn All-Big Sky honors in the outdoor 800 meters, giving him all-conference honors at the last two conference track meets.
 
Richardson will enter this year's Big Sky indoor meet ranked ninth in the conference off his time of 1:52.73 at the Idaho Duals on Feb. 3.
 
Richardson will run in the trials of the men's 800 meters at 5:05 p.m. (MT) Friday. Should he advance, Richardson will run in the finals of the 800 meters at 2:25 p.m. (MT) Saturday.
 
Richardson's distance running mates Alex Cisneros and Sarah Medved could also make noise for the Vikings in the men's 3,000 meters and women's 5,000 meters, respectively. Cisneros broke the school record in the indoor 5,000 meters earlier this season, and brooke the school record in the cross country 10k in November. Medved, meanwhile, was an All-Big Sky honoree in cross country after placing 10th at the Big Sky meet.
 
Sophomore Jean-Luc Toku could also follow Richardson's mold by outperforming the performance chart this year. Toku enters the meet ranked sixth in the triple jump and 16th in the long jump, but scored for the Vikings with sixth-place finishes in the indoor and outdoor triple jump as a freshman last season.
 
Similar to Toku, junior Ta'mara Richey is entered in the women's long jump and triple jump, in addition to the pentathlon, which she'll complete Thursday. Richey has shifted her focus more to the pentathlon this season, but earned All-Big Sky honors with third-place finishes in the indoor long jump and triple jump at last season's Big Sky meet.
 
Senior Mitchell Gable has also been on a recent tear in the 200 and 400 meters, and has moved into the top three all-time at Portland State in both events. Gable moved up to second all-time in the 400 meters with his time of 48.73 seconds at the Idaho Duals on Feb. 3, and moved up to third all-time in the 200 with his time of 22.03 seconds at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational on Feb. 10.
 
Both of Gable's recent personal bests have been by three-tenths of a second, and if Gable shows similar improvement at the Big Sky meet, then All-Big Sky honors or better could be in line for him.
 
No matter how things go at the Big Sky meet this weekend, the Vikings will surely be happy that the rainy training sessions are behind them. If trophies and wins follow suit, then all the better.
 
MEET INFORMATION:
Feb. 23-25 – Big Sky Indoor Championships – Pocatello, Idaho (Holt Arena)
 
LIVE VIDEO:
A live video stream will be available for events on Friday and Saturday. Fans can find the link to the video stream on the track & field schedule page on GoViks.com.
 
BIG SKY INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE:
Thursday, Feb. 23
Men's Heptathlon – Day 1
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU entries)
11 a.m.                        60 Meters (Section 2 – Robinson)
                                    Long Jump (Robinson)
                                    Shot Put (Robinson)
                                    High Jump (Robinson)
 
Women's Pentathlon
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU entries)
11:15 a.m.                  60-Meter Hurdles (Section 1 – Richey)
                                    High Jump (Richey)
                                    Shot Put (Richey)
                                    Long Jump (Richey)
                                    800 Meters (Richey)
 
Friday, Feb. 24
Men's Heptathlon – Day 2
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU entries)
10 a.m.                        60-Meter Hurdles (Section 3 – Robinson)
                                    Pole Vault (Robinson)
                                    1,000 Meters (Robinson)
 
Field Events
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU entries)
1:30 p.m.                    Women's Long Jump (Flight 1 – Williams; Flight 2 – Powdrell, Richey)
3 p.m.                          Men's High Jump (Robinson)
5 p.m.                          Men's Long Jump (Flight 1 – Toku, Simpson)
5 p.m.                          Men's Shot Put (Flight 1 – Bacon)
 
Running Events
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU entries)
3:30 p.m.                    Men's 60-Meter Hurdles – Trials (Heat 2 – Golaube)
3:45 p.m.                    Women's 60-Meter Hurdles – Trials (Heat 2 – Anderson)
4:05 p.m.                    Men's 400 Meters – Trials (Heat 4 – Gable)
4:20 p.m.                    Women's 400 Meters – Trials (Heat 2 – Vinjamuri)
4:50 p.m.                    Women's 60 Meters – Trials (Heat 1 – Settle; Heat 4 – Powdrell)
5:05 p.m.                    Men's 800 Meters – Trials (Heat 3 – Richardson)
5:35 p.m.                    Men's 200 Meters – Trials (Heat 5 – Gable)
5:50 p.m.                    Women's 200 Meters – Trials (Heat 2 – Settle, Powdrell; Heat 3 – Vinjamuri)
6:25 p.m.                    Women's 5,000 Meters – Final (Medved, Trapp)
6:45 p.m.                    Men's DMR – Final (Portland State 'A' – Biedebach, Wilder, Jemison, Cisneros)
7 p.m.                          Women's DMR – Final (Portland State 'A' – Reynolds, Jackson, Chaplin, Medved)
 
Saturday, Feb. 25
Field Events
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU entries)
10 a.m.                        Women's Triple Jump (Flight 1 – Richey)
12 p.m.                       Men's Pole Vault (Winkle)
1 p.m.                          Men's Triple Jump (Flight 1 – Wood; Flight 2 – Toku)
 
Running Events
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU entries):
1:15 p.m.                    Men's 60-Meter Hurdles – Final (TBD)
1:25 p.m.                    Women's 60-Meter Hurdles – Final (TBD)
1:40 p.m.                    Men's 400 Meters – Final (TBD)
1:50 p.m.                    Women's 400 Meters – Final (TBD)
2:10 p.m.                    Women's 60 Meters – Final (TBD)
2:25 p.m.                    Men's 800 Meters – Final (TBD)
2:45 p.m.                    Men's 200 Meters – Final (TBD)
2:55 p.m.                    Women's 200 Meters – Final (TBD)
3:05 p.m.                    Men's 3,000 Meters – Final (Cisneros)
3:35 p.m.                    Men's 4x400-Meter Relay – Final (Section 2 – Portland State 'A' – Gable, Richardson, Wilder, Wood)
3:50 p.m.                    Women's 4x400-Meter Relay – Final (Section 2 – Portland State 'A' – Jackson, Powdrell, Settle, Vinjamuri)
 
All field events are finals
 
COMING UP:
If any of the Vikings finish in the top 16 in the nation of any individual event at the end of the weekend, then they'll advance to the NCAA Indoor Championships, March 9-11, in College Station, Texas.
 
NO QUALIFYING STANDARDS FOR BIG SKY INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS:
In a major change from previous seasons, the Big Sky no longer employed qualifying standards this indoor season and instead gave coaches the power to fill out their rosters for the Big Sky Indoor Championships as they pleased. Roster sizes were capped at 26 athletes (men and women), leaving it up to coaches to determine how to maximize their scoring potential with that limit. The Big Sky Indoor Championships take place this weekend, Feb. 23-25, in Pocatello, Idaho.
 
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFICATION:
The NCAA Indoor Championships have been much harder for Viking athletes to qualify for than outdoors, and not surprisingly considering the different qualifying procedures. The top 16 declared student-athletes in each event, as well as the top 12 declared relay teams, qualify for the indoor national championship – a much different procedure than the one the outdoor national championship utilizes. Outdoors, the top 48 athletes in each event in the east and west advance to a regional stage, and the top 12 at each of those meets then advance to the national stage. Only two Vikings have ever qualified for the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships, with Gayle Imran-Sideris the first to do it in 2006, when she qualified in the triple jump. Geronne Black matched the feat in 2013, when she qualified in the 60 meters. No Viking currently stands in qualifying position, but junior Donté Robinson ranks 85th nationally in the men's heptathlon.
 
UW INDOOR OPEN RECAP:
The Vikings set nine personal bests at the UW Indoor Open, Feb. 12, to close out the indoor regular season at the Dempsey Indoor facility. Three of the Vikings' nine personal bests came in the men's mile, where freshmen Michael Biedebach, Alec Hornecker and Andrew Stafford all shaved time off their time last week at the Cougar Indoor Invitational. Biedebach led the Viking freshmen with his time of 4:26.09, more than nine seconds faster than his time of 4:35.35 last week. Hornecker followed Biedebach in 4:29.83 – close to four seconds faster than his time last week – while Stafford finished in 4:30.83 – well ahead of his time of 4:35.20 at the Cougar Indoor Invite. Troy Bacon and Donté Robinson, meanwhile, each set new personal bests in the shot put, while Bacon – an offensive lineman on the Vikings' football team – was making his indoor track debut for the Vikings. Bacon finished with a best throw of 45-10.75 (13.99m), moving him up to seventh all-time in the indoor shot put after his first meet for the Vikings. The other four new personal bests for the Vikings came from Maya Jackson in the women's 200 and 400, Liam Jemison in the men's 800 and Christian Wood in the men's triple jump.
 
HUSKY CLASSIC RECAP:
Senior Ben Richardson posted his second-best 800-meter time of the season at the Husky Classic, Feb. 10-11, at the Dempsey Indoor facility. Richardson finished the 800 in 1:54.53, more than half a second better than his initial 800 at the Dempsey Indoor facility of 1:55.17 at the UW Invitational on Jan. 28. Richardson, who earned All-Big Sky honors in the indoor and outdoor 800 meters last season, ranks ninth in the Big Sky this season off his time of 1:52.73 at the Idaho Duals on Feb. 3.
 
DON KIRBY ELITE INVITATIONAL RECAP:
Senior Genna Settle set seasonal bests in the 60 and 200 meters on the first day of the Don Kirby Elite Invitational, Feb. 10-11, at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Settle retook the lead in the 200 meters for a moment, as her time of 24.27 seconds (before conversion) beat Northern Arizona's Jasmine Malone's current Big Sky-leading time of 24.61 seconds by more than three-tenths of a second. Northern Colorado's Moriah Zachary surpassed Settle with a time of 24.16 seconds in the following section of the 200, but Settle's time still represented a seasonal best by three-tenths of a second. Settle also advanced to the semifinals of the 60 meters on the first day of the meet with a seasonal best of 7.55 seconds – the third straight meet at which she has set a new seasonal best in the event. Fellow senior Mitchell Gable won his section of the men's 200 meters with a huge personal best in the event on the first day of the meet. Gable won his section in 22.03 seconds, more than three-tenths of a second better than the personal best of 22.35 seconds he set last week at the Idaho Duals. Gable's time in the 200 moves him up from eighth to third all-time at Portland State in the indoor 200, a week after he moved up to second all-time in the 400 with his time of 48.73 seconds at the Idaho Duals. Freshman Nia Powdrell also set a new indoor personal best in the women's 200 with her time of 24.91 seconds, and matched the personal best she set last week in the long jump of 18-06.00 (5.64m).
 
COUGAR INDOOR INVITATIONAL RECAP:
Freshman Kamal-Craig Golaube broke out with a personal best in the 60-meter hurdles to lead the Vikings at the Cougar Indoor Invitational Saturday, Feb. 4, at the WSU Indoor Practice Facility. Golaube shaved more than a tenth of a second off his previous personal best while finishing in 8.38 seconds, moving him up to fourth in the 60-meters hurdles at Portland State. Senior Akayla Anderson also won the women's 60-meter hurdles at the meet, the second straight win for the senior following her win at the Idaho Duals a day earlier. Fellow senior Genna Settle nearly posted another win for the Vikings in the finals of the 60 meters, as she placed second in a seasonal-best time of 7.61 seconds. Redshirt sophomore Alex Cisneros also placed third in the mile while setting a new personal best in the event with his time of 4:20.63.
 
IDAHO DUALS RECAP:
The Vikings got into the competitive spirit Friday, Feb. 3, as the Vikings competed in a rare five-team, round-robin dual meet in the Idaho Duals, and won six events while finishing with 17 total podium finishes. The Viking women accounted for four of the event wins for the Vikings, and senior Genna Settle led the way with a 60-200 meter sweep. Settle won the finals of the 60 meters in 7.63 seconds, and won the 200 meters in 24.76 seconds. Settle blew away the field in the 200 meters, as she beat teammate Rachel Vinjamuri, who placed second, by more than half a second. Vinjamuri won the 400 meters earlier in the day, as she finished a full second ahead of her nearest competitor while finishing in a seasonal-best 57.01 seconds. Senior Akayla Anderson showed similar dominance in winning the finals of the 60-meter hurdles by four-tenths of a second with her time of 8.63 seconds in the final. The Viking men, meanwhile, picked up event wins behind Ben Richardson in the 800 meters and Donté Robinson in the high jump. Richardson won the 800 meters while finishing in an indoor personal-best 1:52.73, beating his nearest competitor by more than three-quarters of a second. Robinson also won his event with a new personal best, as he cleared 6-06.75 (2.00m) in the high jump, three-quarters of an inch better than his old best of 6-06.00 (1.98m). Outside of the event winners, senior Mitchell Gable, freshman Nia Powdrell and sophomore Jean-Luc Toku all were double-podium finishers at the meet. Gable made the podium in the 200 and 400 meters while setting a new personal best in each event with his times of 22.35 and 48.73 seconds, respectively. Powdrell, meanwhile, placed second in the long jump and third in the 200 meters, and nearly made a third podium while placing fourth in the 60 meters. Toku placed third in the men's long jump, and also placed second in the triple jump.
 
UW INVITATIONAL RECAP:
Redshirt sophomore Alex Cisneros provided the fireworks for the Vikings at the UW Invitational, as he set a school record in the men's 5,000 meters on the first evening of the meet at Dempsey Indoor facility in Seattle, Wash. Cisneros finished the 5,000 in 14:43.07, beating Andrew Salg's six-year-old school record of 14:50.81 by more than seven seconds. Cisneros' record came in his first appearance of the season for the Vikings, and beat his old personal best in the event by more than 14 seconds. Senior Genna Settle also lowered her own Big Sky-leading time in the women's 200 meters that first day, as she finished in 24.66 seconds to beat her season-opening time in the 200 by a quarter of a second. The second day of the UW Invitational, meanwhile, was a day of improvement for the Vikings, as several athletes bettered the marks they set in their season openers two weeks prior. Sophomore Jean-Luc Toku led the way with a seven-inch indoor personal best in the long jump with his mark of 22-02.25 (6.76m). Both men's and women's 4x400-meter relay teams also shaved more than six seconds off their season-opening times, while freshman Kamal-Craig Golaube moved up to seventh all-time in the 60-meter hurdles at Portland State with a personal best of 8.50 seconds.
 
UW INDOOR PREVIEW RECAP:
The majority of the Portland State track & field team opened their 2017 indoor seasons at the UW Indoor Preview, Jan. 14, and the team's three returning Big Sky champions proved up to the challenge of leading a young Viking team. All three opened their seasons ahead of their 2016 paces, led by junior Spenser Schmidt, who was busy between the 60 meters, 200 meters and long jump at the meet. Schmidt set a new personal best in the prelims of the 60 meters with his time of 7.00 seconds, and then also finished third overall in the long jump with a mark of 22-08.00 (6.91m). Schmidt's mark beat the 22-07.25 (6.89m) he opened the 2016 indoor season with, and Schmidt finished that season as the Big Sky champion. Senior Genna Settle – 2016 Big Sky champion in the 100 meters – also got her 2017 season off to a strong start at the meet, as she finished the 60 meters in 7.64 seconds and 7.66 seconds – both faster times than her first six marks during 2016. Settle also cracked 25 seconds in the 200 meters with her time of 24.91 seconds, more than half a second faster than her opening time in 2016, and moving her into the Big Sky lead in the event. Meanwhile, Akayla Anderson – 2016 Big Sky champion in the 100-meter hurdles – opened her season with times of 8.60 and 8.66 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles. Anderson only ran faster than that twice in 2016, and not until the Big Sky indoor meet, where she placed second in the finals of the event. Outside of the returning Big Sky champions, sophomore Jean-Luc Toku also got his season off to a good note in the triple jump, as he placed second in the event with a personal-best mark of 47-03.50 (14.41m). Toku finished behind only Stanford's Jack Uudmae in the event, and also moved into second place within the Big Sky this season.
 
ED JACOBY INVITATIONAL/MULTI RECAP:
Neither Ta'mara Richey nor Donté Robinson had completed a full pentathlon or heptathlon before, but that didn't hinder them at the Ed Jacoby Invitational/Multi, Jan. 13-14, where both athletes moved into the top 10 all-time in their respective events at Portland State. Robinson had the more impressive of the two debuts, as he won the heptathlon with a score of 4,900 points, giving him the Big Sky lead in the event and moving him up to sixth all-time in the heptathlon at Portland State. Robinson won by 566 points as he dominated the field, taking home first place in six of the seven individual events in addition to placing first overall. Robinson also set a new personal best in all seven events of the heptathlon, and was remarkably consistent across all events as he scored 700 or more points in five of the seven events. Richey, meanwhile, placed second in her first pentathlon, as she finished with a score of 3,145 points to move into eighth all-time in the event at Portland State. Richey gave herself a chance to win the event, too, as she won the penultimate event of the pentathlon, the long jump, by 16 inches to jump way up to within 29 points of the lead. Richey couldn't make up the rest of the gap in the final event, the 800 meters, however, and settled for second.