Complete Meet Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — Two and a Half Men may have had one of the worst theme songs of any hit TV show, but it's an appropriate song for the Portland State track & field team this weekend, as the men take center stage at the John Knight Twilight meet Friday in Monmouth, Ore. (though please do not divisively argue as to who the half-man is supposed to be).
 
Of the 19 events the Vikings will compete in at the John Knight Twilight, 14 of them will be men's events. Additionally, 19 of the 24 Vikings entered in the meet are from the men's team.
 
Senior Mitchell Gable has been a consistent headliner for the Viking men in 2017, and should lead the Vikings again Friday. Gable will run in the men's 100 and 200 meters Friday, and will lead large groups of Vikings in both races. In addition to Gable, Se Min Park, Justin Simpson, Jean-Luc Toku and Tanner Tropio are entered in the men's 100 meters, while Park and Simpson will also join Gable in the men's 200 meters.
 
Gable shaved three-tenths of a second off his personal best in the 200 meters last week, when he finished in 22.04 seconds at the Legends of Track & Field Invitational last Saturday. Gable's time last Saturday beat the PR of 22.34 that he set earlier in the year, as Gable has shaved close to fourth-tenths of a second off his 200-meter personal best over the whole outdoor season.
 
Gable also dipped under 11 seconds for the first time in 100 meters at the Willamette Invitational on March 25, when he finished in 10.95 seconds.
 
Gable's success outdoor comes after a frustrating end to his indoor season, which was upended by injury just before the Big Sky Indoor Championships. Gable shaved four-tenths of a second off his 200-meter PR and more than three-tenths of a second off his 400-meter PR during the indoor season, and rose to second all-time in the indoor 400 and third all-time in the indoor 200. Gable could have potentially done more if he had been healthy at the Big Sky indoor meet, but has returned to form for the outdoor season.
 
Fellow senior Ben Richardson also had his indoor season end in injury, after pulling up while running a leg of the men's 4x400-meter relay at the Big Sky Indoor Championships.
 
Richardson returned from the injury last week at the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival, however, and will run his first outdoor 800-meter race of the season Friday at the John Knight Twilight meet.
 
The 800 meters is Richardson's bread and butter, after the senior earned All-Big Sky honors in the indoor and outdoor 800 meters as a junior last season. Richardson also set a new indoor PR in the 800 at 1:52.73 earlier this season, and holds an outdoor PR of 1:51.90, set at last season's OSU High Performance Meet.
 
Outside of those two, Toku, Kamal-Craig Golaube and Troy Bacon will be the only Vikings competing in events where they are ranked in the top 10 of the Big Sky this season. Golaube and Toku each rank seventh in the Big Sky in the men's 110-meter hurdles and triple jump, respectively, while Bacon competes in the men's discus.
 
Golaube will run the 110- and 400-meter hurdles at the John Knight Twilight Friday, and will open events on the track with the 110-meter hurdles at 4:25 p.m. (PT).
 
Toku and Bacon will also each open field events for the Vikings in the men's long jump and discus, respectively, at 3:15 p.m. (PT) Saturday.
 
MEET INFORMATION:
April 6-7 – John Knight Twilight – Monmouth, Ore. (McArthur Field)
 
JOHN KNIGHT TWILIGHT SCHEDULE:
Friday, April 7
Field Events
Start (PT)                  Event (PSU entries)
3:15 p.m.                    Men's Shot Put (Bacon)
3:15 p.m.                    Men's Long Jump (Toku)
After M-LJ at 3:15      Men's Triple Jump (Toku, Wood)
4 p.m.                          Women's Javelin (Marchment)
4:10 p.m.                    Men's Discus (Bacon)
 
Running Events
Start (PT)                  Event (PSU entries)
4:25 p.m.                    Men's 110-Meter Hurdles (Golaube)
4:35 p.m.                    Women's 400 Meters (Jackson)
4:45 p.m.                    Men's 400 Meters (Wood)
5:20 p.m.                    Men's 100 Meters (Gable, Park, Simpson, Toku, Tropio)
5:45 p.m.                    Men's 800 Meters (Hvidsten, Jemison, Richardson)
6:10 p.m.                    Men's 400-Meter Hurdles (Golaube)
6:20 p.m.                    Women's 200 Meters (Jackson)
6:35 p.m.                    Men's 200 Meters (Gable, Park, Simpson)
7 p.m.                          Women's 1,500 Meters (Gibson)
7:20 p.m.                    Men's 1,500 Meters (Bader, Biedebach, Emeterio, Hornecker, Stafford)
7:45 p.m.                    Men's 4x400-Meter Relay (Portland State 'A')
7:55 p.m.                    Men's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase (Gaskell)
8:30 p.m.                    Women's 5,000 Meters (Martin, Trapp)
8:50 p.m.                    Men's 5,000 Meters (Wikler)
 
COMING UP:
The Vikings head to Texas for the two-day Texas Invitational, April 14-15, hosted by the University of Texas in Austin, Texas.
 
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.
 
LEGENDS OF TRACK & FIELD INVITATIONAL RECAP:
Senior Genna Settle lowered her own Big Sky-leading time in the 100 meters at the Legends of Track & Field Invitational, March 31 – April 1, at UCLA's Drake Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. Settle lowered her time to 11.82 seconds, a tenth of a second better than her season-opening time of 11.92 seconds. Settle also placed fifth in the invitational section of the women's 200 meters, finishing in 24.33 seconds. Fellow senior Akayla Anderson lost the Big Sky lead in the 100-meter hurdles that she held coming into the week, but still lowered her time in the event while finishing seventh in the invitational section in 13.95 seconds. Anderson's time beat her previous best this season by close to two-tenths of a second, as she dipped under 14 seconds for the first time this season. Senior Mitchell Gable shaved three-tenths of a second off his personal best in the 200 meters Saturday, finishing the college section of the race in 22.04 seconds. Gable's time beat the PR of 22.34 he set at the Willamette Invitational last Saturday, and put him just outside the top 10 all-time in the outdoor 200 at Portland State.
 
BOB LARSEN DISTANCE CARNIVAL RECAP:
Distance took center stage for the Vikings at the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival, as the Vikings posted several personal bests while competing at Drake Stadium, March 31, in Los Angeles, Calif. Sophomore Kaila Ann Gibson led the Vikings at the meet, as she posted a 50-second personal best while winning the 'B' section of the women's 5,000 meters in 17:48.92. Gibson's time crushed her old personal best of 18:39.11, which she set last year at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival. Sophomore Jocelyn Reynolds showed similar improvement in the women's 10,000 meters, as she finished in 38:43.63 to beat her old PR of 39:39.43 by close to a full minute. Freshman Alec Hornecker, junior Alana Chaplin and freshman Liam Jemison all shaved 5-7 seconds off their personal bests in the men's 5,000, women's 1,500 and men's 1,500 meters, respectively. Jemsion placed second to senior Ben Richardson in the 'C' section of the men's 1,500 meters, as Richardson won the section in 4:01.59. Richardson finished four seconds ahead of any other runner, giving the senior a strong return to the track after he suffered an injury at the Big Sky Indoor Championships on Feb. 25.
 
PACIFIC COMBINED EVENTS RECAP:
Multi-eventers Ta'mara Richey and Donté Robinson completed their first heptathlon and decathlon at the Pacific Combined Events, March 27-28, at Hanson Stadium in Forest Grove, Ore. Richey placed second in the women's heptathlon with 4,147 points, while Robinson won the decathlon with his score of 6,328 points. Both scores placed the athletes in the top 10 all-time in their respective multi-events at Portland State, and Robinson moved up to second in the Big Sky with his score in the decathlon. Robinson won the decathlon while setting or tying personal bests in nine of the 10 events. Robinson won or tied for first in three of the 10 events, as well, and placed second or tied for second in three more events. Richey, meanwhile, set personal bests in five of the seven events in the heptathlon. Richey won the two events – 200 meters, long jump – that she didn't set a personal best in, and Richey recorded her highest point totals in those events as well. Richey now ranks 10th all-time at Portland State in the heptathlon, while Robinson ranks eighth all-time in the decathlon. Robinson also ranks just 42 points off the conference-leading score in the decathlon of 6,370 points that Alec Acevado set at the Sacramento State Hornet Invitational on the first weekend of the outdoor season.
 
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.