Complete Meet Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — It's Spring Break, and the Portland State track & field team is going south. Not to a beach, however, but to UCLA's Drake Stadium for a pair of meets this Friday and Saturday.
 
The Vikings will compete in the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival Friday, as well as the Legends of Track & Field Invitational Friday and Saturday.
 
Friday will largely be about the distance events for the Vikings, with the Vikings only scheduled to compete in two field events within the Legends of Track & Field Invitational that day.
 
The Vikings will compete in seven events at the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival Friday, starting with the 'C' Section of the men's 1,500 meters at 4:50 p.m. (PT). Liam Jemison and Bob Richardson will compete for the Vikings in that section, with Richardson – a two-time All-Big Sky runner in the 800 meters – making his 2017 outdoor debut after suffering an injury at the Big Sky Indoor meet.
 
Eight other Vikings will make event or season debuts at the distance carnival, including All-Big Sky cross country runner Sarah Medved, who will run in her first women's 10,000-meter race of the season. Medved scored for the Vikings with a fifth-place finish in the 10,000 meters at last year's Big Sky Outdoor meet, and enters the meet ranked seventh all-time at Portland State in the 10,000 meters off her PR of 36:13.69, set last season.
 
Freshman Michael Biedebach will also be the rare Viking men's athlete to compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, an event the Viking men have competed in just three times since the start of the 2013 season. T-Roy Brown accounts for all three of the steeplechase races for the Viking men since 2013, and came close to the school record in the event with his time of 9:16.04 in 2014. Ben Plumb set the school record at 9:09.54 in 1982, 35 years from when Biedebach will compete in the event Friday.
 
Jean-Luc Toku and Troy Bacon, meanwhile, will open the Legends of Track & Field Invitational for the Vikings in the college sections of the men's long jump and shot put Friday. The rest of the Legends of Track & Field Invitational will take place Saturday, however, starting with the college section of the men's triple jump and invitational section of the men's javelin at 10 a.m. (PT).
 
Much of the Vikings' field athletes will compete in invitational sections, including Bacon, who will compete in the invitational section of the men's discus after improving his mark in the event last week. Bacon opened the outdoor season with a throw of 152-08 (46.55m) at the L&C Spring Break Open – the best throw by a Viking men's athlete since 1996 at the time – and then beat that with a throw of 153-10.75 (46.90m) a week later.
 
Ta'mara Richey will also compete in the invitational sections of the women's long jump and triple jump, with senior Brandi Williams joining Richey in the long jump.
 
The Vikings will compete in four invitational sections on the track, with senior Genna Settle accounting for two of the four with her participation in the invitational sections of the women's 100 and 200 meters. Settle leads the Big Sky in both events off her times of 11.92 and 23.97 seconds at the Trojan Invitational, and holds the top two times in the 200 meters after finishing in 24.09 seconds at the Willamette Invitational last week.
 
Fellow seniors Akayla Anderson and Mitchell Gable will be the two other Vikings competing in invitational sections on the track, as Anderson runs in the invitational section of the women's 100-meter hurdles, while Gable runs in the invitational section of the men's 400 meters.
 
Anderson ranks tied for the Big Sky lead in the 100-meter hurdles with her time of 14.13 seconds at the Trojan Invitational, while Gable ranks third in the men's 400 meters off his time of 48.27 seconds at the same meet.
 
The Vikings will also compete in the college sections of nine events on the track.
 
MEET INFORMATION:
March 31 – Bob Larsen Distance Carnival – Los Angeles, Calif. (Drake Stadium)
March 31 – April 1 – Legends of Track & Field Invitational – Los Angeles, Calif. (Drake Stadium)
 
LIVE RESULTS:
Live results will be available for both meets through the Finished Results app. Fans will need to download the app on their mobile devices to access live results.
 
LIVE VIDEO:
Live video will be available for both meets with a paid subscription to Flotrack. Fans can find a link to sign up for a subscription to Flotrack on the track & field schedule page on GoViks.com.
 
BOB LARSEN DISTANCE CARNIVAL SCHEDULE:
Friday, March 31
Running Events
Start (PT)                  Event (PSU entries)
4:50 p.m.                    Men's 1,500 Meters – C Section (Jemison, Richardson)
5:15 p.m.                    Women's 1,500 Meters – C Section (Chaplin)
6:15 p.m.                    Men's 5,000 Meters – B Section (Emeterio, Gaskell, Hornecker, Stafford)
6:35 p.m.                    Women's 5,000 Meters – B Section (Gibson)
7 p.m.                          Men's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase (Biedebach)
8:35 p.m.                    Men's 10,000 Meters (Wikler)
9:15 p.m.                    Women's 10,000 Meters (Medved)
 
LEGENDS OF TRACK & FIELD INVITATIONAL:
Friday, March 31
Field Events
Start (PT)                  Event (PSU entries)
12:30 p.m.                  Men's Long Jump – College (Toku)
2 p.m.                          Men's Shot Put – College (Bacon)
 
Saturday, April 1
Field Events
Start (PT)                  Event (PSU entries)
10 a.m.                        Men's Triple Jump – College (Toku)
10 a.m.                        Men's Javelin – Invitational (Flight 1 – Robinson)
12 p.m.                       Women's Javelin – Invitational (Flight 1 – Liber, Marchment)
12:30 p.m.                  Women's Long Jump – Invitational (Richey, Williams)
3:30 p.m.                    Women's Triple Jump – Invitational (Richey)
4 p.m.                          Men's Discus – Invitational (Bacon)
 
Running Events
Start (PT)                  Event (PSU entries)
2:50 p.m.                    Women's 100-Meter Hurdles – Invitational (Section 2 – Anderson)
2:50 p.m.                    Men's 110-Meter Hurdles – College (Section 1 – Golaube)
3:30 p.m.                    Women's 400 Meters – College (Section 1 – Jackson)
3:30 p.m.                    Men's 400 Meters – College (Section 2 – Wood)
3:30 p.m.                    Men's 400 Meters – Invitational (Gable)
3:50 p.m.                    Women's 100 Meters – College (Section 3 – Williams)
3:50 p.m.                    Men's 100 Meters – College (Section 2 – Park)
3:50 p.m.                    Women's 100 Meters – Invitational (Settle)
4:30 p.m.                    Men's 400-Meter Hurdles – College (Section 2 – Golaube)
5:10 p.m.                    Women's 200 Meters – College (Section 2 – Anderson; Section 3 – Jackson)
5:10 p.m.                    Men's 200 Meters – College (Section 2 – Gable; Section 3 – Park, Wood)
5:10 p.m.                    Women's 200 Meters – Invitational (Settle)
5:40 p.m.                    Men's 4x400-Meter Relay – College (Portland State 'A')
 
COMING UP:
The Vikings return to the state of Oregon for the John Knight Twilight, hosted by Western Oregon University, in Monmouth, Ore., on April 7.
 
SETTLE PICKS UP FIRST-CAREER BIG SKY OUTDOOR AOTW HONOR:
Senior Genna Settle picked up her first-career Big Sky Women's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week honor Tuesday, after winning the 200 meters at the Willamette Invitational Saturday in 24.09 seconds. Settle's time Saturday gives her the top two times in 200 within the Big Sky this season, following her Big Sky-leading time of 23.97 seconds at the Trojan Invitational on March 18. Settle leads the No. 2 time in the conference – 24.24 seconds by Northern Arizona's Jasmine Malone – by more than a quarter of a second, and leads the No. 3 time – 25.03 seconds by Northern Colorado's Brianna Pardner – by more than a full second.
 
NO QUALIFYING STANDARDS FOR BIG SKY INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS:
In a major change from previous seasons, the Big Sky no longer employs qualifying standards and instead gives coaches the power to fill out their rosters for the Big Sky Outdoor Championships as they please. Roster sizes will be capped at 28 athletes (men and women), leaving it up to coaches to determine how to maximize their scoring potential with that limit. The Big Sky Outdoor Championships take place, May 10-13, in Sacramento, Calif.
 
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFICATION:
Unlike the NCAA Indoor Championships, the path to the NCAA Outdoor Championships runs through a regional stage, giving the Vikings more of a chance of qualifying for the national meet. Indoors, the Vikings could only qualify for the national meet if they finished in the top 16 in each individual event, but outdoors, the Vikings only need to finish in the top 48 of the NCAA west region to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds, May 25-27, in Austin, Texas. The top 12 in each event at the NCAA West and East Preliminary Rounds then advance onto the NCAA Outdoor Championships, June 7-10, in Eugene, Ore. The qualification procedure differs a bit for the relay events, as only the top 24 relay teams qualify for the regional stage. Qualifying for the multi-events also differs, as they skip the regional stage and instead advance the top 24 in the nation in the heptathlon and decathlon directly to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
 
WILLAMETTE INVITATIONAL RECAP:
Seniors Genna Settlle and Mitchell Gable sprinted to the front for the Portland State track & field team at the Willamette Invitational, March 18, leading the Vikings to a day of improvement at the Charles Bowles Track. Settle won the 200 meters in 24.09 seconds, beating Oregon State's Venessa D'Arpino and Kerissa D'Arpino by .08 and .18 seconds, respectively, and beating the rest of the field by more than a full second. Gable, meanwhile, led the group of Vikings who improved their marks at the meet, as he posted a pair of personal bests in the 100 and 200 meters, finishing third in both events in 10.95 and 22.34 seconds, respectively. Sophomore Troy Bacon improved on his season-opening throw in the discus that marked the best throw by a Viking men's athletes since 1996 at the time. Bacon finished with a best throw of 153-10.75 (46.90m) at the Willamette Invitational, beating his historic throw from last week by more than a foot. Six other Vikings improved their marks at the Willamette Invitational, while another six made their debuts in various events in the meet.
 
TROJAN INVITATIONAL RECAP:
Senior Genna Settle picked up where she left off from the indoor season while opening her outdoor season in impressive fashion at the Trojan Invitational, March 18, at the Loker Track in Los Angeles, Calif. Settle placed eighth overall in the 200 meters in a time of 23.97 seconds – her best debut ever outdoors as a Viking, and only two-tenths of a second behind her Big Sky-winning time of 23.75 seconds three weeks ago that broke the school, championship and conference records in the indoor 200. By comparison, Settle opened her 2016 outdoor season with a time of 24.45 seconds in the 200, putting her close to a half-second ahead of last season's pace, when she ended the season by placing second in the outdoor 200 by one-hundredth of a second. Settle also finished seventh overall in the 100 meters in 11.92 seconds. Junior Ta'mara Richey followed in Settle's footsteps with her own strong debut in the women's long jump, as she placed second overall with a best jump of 19-00.00 (5.79m). Richey was coming off a fourth-place finish at the Big Sky indoor meet where she set a new personal best of 19-08.25 (6.00m), and cracked 19 feet again in her outdoor debut at the Trojan Invite. Senior Brandi Williams also tied her Portland State personal best while placing third overall in the long jump with a best jump of 18-06.50 (5.65m). Fellow senior Mitchell Gable, meanwhile, rebounded from an injury that limited him at the Big Sky indoor meet to finish fifth overall in the men's 400 meters with his time of 48.27 seconds. Gable's time ranked just two-tenths of a second behind his outdoor personal best of 48.05 seconds, and beat all but two of Gable's time in the outdoor 400 last season.
 
L&C SPRING BREAK OPEN RECAP:
The Portland State track & field team opened its outdoor season at the L&C Spring Break Open, March 17-18, at the Eldon Fix Track in Portland, Ore., with 10 athletes making their career outdoor debuts at Portland State. No athlete impressed more than Troy Bacon, who moved into the top 10 all-time at Portland State in the discus after just one meet competing outdoors for the Vikings. Bacon – who will be a junior offensive lineman for the Portland State football team this fall – placed seventh overall in the discus with a throw of 152-08 (46.55m), moving him up to sixth all-time in the discus at Portland State. Bacon's throw also marked the best throw by a Viking men's athlete in the discus since Ryan Alexander set the school record at 162-04 (49.48m) in 1996. Outside of Bacon, the majority of the other debuts came in the men's distance events, including six newcomers making their debuts in the men's 1,500 meters. Freshman Andrew Stafford led the 1,500-meter group with a 16th-place finish in 4:08.60, while fellow newcomers Liam Jemison (21st, 4:12.75), Gabe Bader (23rd, 4:15.28), Jacob Emeterio (26th, 4:16.52), Austen Hvidsten (27th, 4:16.56) and Cameron Gaskell (33rd, 4:18.00) followed. Freshman Michael Biedebach also led a group of three Vikings in the men's 5,000 meters, and placed third overall in the event in a time of 14:56.23.
 
2017 INDOOR SEASON RECAP:
Senior Genna Settle punctuated the Portland State track & field team's indoor season with a 60-200 title sweep at the Big Sky Indoor Championships, while setting a personal best in each event. Settle became just the second Viking ever to sweep the 60- and 200-meter titles at a single Big Sky Indoor Championships, joining Jernise Saunders, who first did it in 2009. Settle capped the sweep with a record performance in the 200 meters, as she broke the school, championship and conference records with her time of 23.75 seconds. Settle's time edged out the records former Viking and World Outdoor Championship qualifier Karene King set at 23.77 seconds in 2012. Settle also won the finals of the 60 meters in a personal-best 7.44 seconds, tying her for fifth all-time in the Big Sky record book, as well as tying her for third all-time – with Saunders – in the Portland State record book. Besides Settle, senior Akayla Anderson also earned All-Big Sky honors with her third straight second-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles. Anderson finished second to Weber State's Tawnie Moore in a personal-best 8.38 seconds, .06 behind Moore, who finished in 8.32. Freshman Kamal-Craig Golaube tied the school record in the men's 60-meter hurdles, too, as he finished fourth in the finals of the event at the Big Sky meet in 8.22 seconds. Golaube tied Peter Jason Tait's school record from 2008, and became the Viking men's first scorer in the indoor 60-meter hurdles since DeShawn Shead in 2011. Junior Donté Robinson became the first Viking athlete to earn All-Big Sky honors in the heptathlon since Nick Trubachik in 2010. Robinson placed second in the heptathlon with a personal-best score of 5,230 points – a total that ranks him second only to Trubachik, who set the school record at 5,432 points as a senior in 2010. Outside of the Big Sky meet, Alex Cisneros set the school record in the men's 5,000 meters with his time of 14:43.07 at the UW Invitational on Jan. 27. Cisneros broke Andrew Salg's six-year-old school record of 14:50.81 by more than seven seconds, and beat his old personal best of 14:57.77 by more than 14 seconds.