Complete Meet Notes (PDF)

THE STARTING BLOCK
Put a special athlete in a special meet and special things just might happen. That will be the case for Donté Robinson this weekend, as he leads the Portland State track & field program into the Big Sky Indoor Championships in Bozeman, Mont.
 
Robinson comes into the meet as the defending Big Sky champion in the heptathlon, and leads the Big Sky in the event after coming within 36 points of the school record with a personal-best score of 5,396 points at the UW Invitational, Jan. 25-26.
 
Nick Trubachik set the school record in the heptathlon with a score of 5,432 points at the 2010 Big Sky Indoor Championships, the year he went on to become the Vikings' first NCAA first-team All-American at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Trubachik's record in the heptathlon came in his second straight Big Sky title in the event. Trubachik is the only athlete in the history of the Big Sky Conference to repeat as heptathlon champion, but Robinson could join him if he repeats as champion this weekend.
 
Robinson won his first Big Sky title in the heptathlon with a dramatic 1,000 meters last season. Robinson and Sacramento State's Max Jette were tied going into the final event, but Robinson out-kicked Jette to finish the 1,000 meters in 2:51.65, three-and-a-half seconds ahead of Jette's time of 2:55.15.
 
Jette graduated after last season, so Robinson won't face him again this year. Instead, Robinson's best competition could come from Montana State's Wyatt Thompson-Siporen, who will be competing in front of his home fans at Worthington Arena in Bozeman. Thompson-Siporen ranks second to Robinson with a score of 5,218 points in the heptathlon, which he set at the MSU-UM Multis on Jan. 7.
 
Thompson-Siporen's best event during that heptathlon was the pole vault, where he cleared 16-04.75 (5.00m) to score over 900 points. Thompson-Siporen also leads the Big Sky in the general pole vault, as he set a personal best with a clearance at 16-09.25 (5.11m) at the MSU Open on Jan. 11.
 
Robinson is no slouch in the pole vault himself, however. Robinson cleared 15-01.00 (4.60m) at the UW Invitational earlier this season, setting up his run at the heptathlon school record in the following 1,000 meters.
 
If Robinson can post another big score in the pole vault on the second day of the heptathlon Friday, then he could not only be chasing a school record and second straight Big Sky title in the 1,000 meters, but also a rare national qualification for the NCAA Indoor Championships. The top 16 in each event qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, something only two Vikings have ever done before in Gayle Imran-Sideris (qualified in the triple jump in 2006) and Geronne Black (60 meters in 2013).
 
Robinson currently sits 17th in the heptathlon nationally, just 23 points out of a top-16 spot as Penn's Evan Lee holds the No. 16 mark with a score of 5,419 points. Robinson will likely need to go well beyond that if he hopes to make the national meet, however, as all athletes will be gunning for qualifying marks this weekend.
 
For comparison's sake, the final qualifier for the heptathlon at last season's NCAA Indoor Championships was Alex Bloom of Cincinnati, who qualified with a score of 5,649 points. Matching that score would mean Robinson would have to beat Trubachik's current school record by more than 200 points. It's possible the final qualifying mark won't be that high this season, however, as seven of the 16 athletes in the heptathlon field at last season's national meet were seniors, meaning those spots will be open for new athletes this season.
 
Robinson opens the heptathlon at 10 a.m. (MT) tomorrow with the 60 meters, while sophomore Kristen O'Handley follows 30 minutes later with the first event of the women's pentathlon at 10:30 a.m. (MT). O'Handley comes into the meet ranked seventh in the pentathlon, but was ranked 10th in the event going into last season's meet and finished fourth.
 
O'Handley beat the personal best she set in the pentathlon at last season's Big Sky Indoor Championships by three points despite setting a pentathlon personal best in only one of the five events at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open. O'Handley's one personal best was a big one, however, as she knocked close to five seconds off her personal best in the 800 meters with her finish in 2:24.90. That was the fastest 800-meter time by a Viking during a pentathlon competition since event-by-event records in the pentathlon go back through the 2004 season.
 
Montana's Erika McLeod leads the Big Sky in the pentathlon by over 100 points, as she set a new personal best with a score of 3,913 points at the Candy Cane XI on Nov. 30. McLeod is a two-time Big Sky champion in the heptathlon, winning the event in 2016 and 2017 before sitting out the 2018 season.
 
If O'Handley breaks out in a similar way that she did at her first Big Sky Indoor Championships, then she could challenge for a spot on the podium. That would make her the Vikings' first All-Big Sky performer in the pentathlon since Joenisha Vinson earned the last of four straight All-Big Sky honors while winning the event at the 2013 Big Sky Indoor Championships.
 
The Vikings haven't had the same deep history of All-Big Sky performers in the distance events that they do in the multis, but that could change at this year's meet.
 
Senior Kaila Gibson comes into this year's Big Sky Indoor Championships ranked third in the 5,000 meters after breaking her own school record in the event with a time of 16:33.38 at the UW Invitational on Jan. 25. Southern Utah's Angie Nickerson and Idaho State's Jenica Dodge posted the top two 5,000-meters times at the Husky Classic on Feb. 8, finishing in 16:06.37 and 16:13.69, respectively.
 
Gibson's time at the UW Invite puts her in the next group of athletes in the 5,000 meters, making her a threat to become the Vikings' first-ever All-Big Sky performer in the women's indoor 5,000 meters. The Viking women haven't had an athlete earn All-Big Sky honors at any distance longer than 800 meters, and even that was 11 years ago when Chelsie Jorgensen placed third in the event at the 2008 Big Sky Indoor Championships.
 
Gibson will run the 5,000 meters at 6:55 p.m. (MT) Friday, and could turn around and double in the 3,000 meters at 2:50 p.m. (MT) Saturday. Senior teammate Sarah Medved will also run the 3,000 meters Saturday, and could surprise people given the right circumstances.
 
Medved hasn't run since setting a new personal best in the 5,000 meters at the UW Invitational, finishing in 17:29.47 despite running through an illness. Medved is also coming off a strong cross country season in which she and Gibson became the first pair of teammates to earn All-Big Sky honors in the same season. Gibson placed ninth at the Big Sky Cross Country Championships back in October, while Medved followed at 10th. Medved then broke the school record in the cross country 6k with her time of 20:48.1 at the NCAA West Regional in November.
 
Alex Cisneros could be another surprise for the Vikings, as he's entered in the men's 3,000 meters at 2:20 p.m. (MT) Saturday. Cisneros hasn't competed in a PSU singlet since becoming the first Viking men's runner to qualify for the NCAA West Prelims in the 10,000 meters at the end of last year's outdoor season. That came at the end of a standout season for Cisneros, who broke the school records in the indoor 3,000, indoor 5,000 and outdoor 10,000 meters in 2018. Cisneros broke a 34-year-old school record in the outdoor 10,000 meters, as he finished in 29:25.74 at the 2018 Mt. SAC Relays, making him the first Viking to ever crack 29:30 in the 10k.
 
Cisneros will run in the first section of the 3,000 meters Saturday, when he'll hope to put down a fast time and then have the second section turn into a tactical race. If that happens and things go Cisneros' way, then he could become the Vikings' first All-Big Sky performer in the men's 3,000 meters since Michael Devenport placed third in 2005.
 
It will all start with Robinson, though, as he opens the meet for the Vikings in the heptathlon. Put down a win, and Robinson could start the dominoes falling for the Vikings as a special athlete meets a special occasion.
 
MEET INFO
Feb. 21-23 – Big Sky Indoor Championships – Bozeman, Mont. (Worthington Arena)
 
BIG SKY INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
Thursday, Feb. 21
Heptathlon – Day 1
Start (MT)             Events (PSU entries)
10 a.m.                  60 Meters (Heat 4 of 5 – Robinson)
                              Long Jump (Flight 1 of 1 – Robinson)
                              Shot Put (Flight 1 of 1 – Robinson)
                              High Jump (Flight 1 of 1 – Robinson)
 
Pentathlon
Start (MT)             Events (PSU entries)
10:30 a.m.             60-Meter Hurdles (Heat 2 of 5 – O'Handley)
                              High Jump (Flight 1 of 1 – O'Handley)
                              Shot Put (Flight 1 of 1 – O'Handley)
                              Long Jump (Flight 1 of 1 – O'Handley)
                              800 Meters (Section 1 of 1 – O'Handley)
 
Friday, Feb. 22
Heptathlon – Day 2
Start (MT)             Events (PSU entries)
10 a.m.                  60-Meter Hurdles (Heat 4 of 5 – Robinson)
                              Pole Vault (Flight 1 of 1 – Robinson)
                              1,000 Meters (Section 1 of 1 – Robinson)
 
Field Events (All Field Events Final)
Start (MT)             Events (PSU entries)
3 p.m.                    Women's Long Jump (Flight 1 of 2 – Terry)
6 p.m.                    Men's Long Jump (Flight 1 of 2 – Barrow)
 
Running Events
Start (MT)             Events (PSU entries)
3 p.m.                    Men's 60-Meter Hurdles – Trials (Heat 3 of 3 – Robinson)
3:15 p.m.               Women's 60-Meter Hurdles – Trials (Heat 2 of 4 – O'Handley; Heat 3 of 4 – Buckhaults)
3:35 p.m.               Men's 400 Meters – Trials (Section 6 of 6 – Davis)
4:25 p.m.               Men's 60 Meters – Trials (Heat 1 of 3 – Park)
4:40 p.m.               Women's 60 Meters – Trials (Heat 1 of 4 – Cummings; Heat 4 of 4 – Smith)
5 p.m.                    Men's 800 Meters – Trials (Section 1 of 3 – Hvidsten; Section 3 of 3 – Lovercheck)
5:15 p.m.               Women's 800 Meters – Trials (Section 1 of 2 – Martin)
5:30 p.m.               Men's 200 Meters – Trials (Section 2 of 7 – Davis)
6 p.m.                    Women's 200 Meters – Trials (Section 4 of 11 – Cummings; Section 10 of 11 – O'Handley)
6:35 p.m.               Men's 5,000 Meters – Final (Section 1 of 1 – Rae)
6:55 p.m.               Women's 5,000 Meters – Final (Section 1 of 1 – Gibson, Jacques)
7:20 p.m.               Men's Distance Medley Relay – Final (Section 1 of 1 – Portland State 'A' – Payton, Lovercheck, Seidel, Snyder)
7:35 p.m.               Women's Distance Medley Relay – Final (Section 1 of 1 – Portland State 'A' – White, Kavulich, Medved, O'Handley)
 
Saturday, Feb. 23
Field Events (All Field Events Final)
Start (MT)             Events (PSU entries)
12 p.m.                  Women's High Jump (Flight 1 of 1 – Dunleavy, Elliott, O'Handley)
                              Men's Pole Vault (Flight 1 of 1 – Robinson)
1:15 p.m.               Women's Shot Put (Flight 1 of 2 – Mumford)
                              Men's Triple Jump (Flight 1 of 2 – Barrow)
 
Running Events
Start (MT)             Events (PSU entries)
12 p.m.                  Men's Mile – Final (Section 1 of 2 – Ramirez, Seidel, Snyder, Stafford)
12:15 p.m.             Women's Mile – Final (Section 1 of 2 – Kavulich)
12:30 p.m.             Men's 60-Meter Hurdles – Final
12:40 p.m.             Women's 60-Meter Hurdles – Final
12:50 p.m.             Men's 400 Meters – Final
1:10 p.m.               Men's 60 Meters – Final
1:20 p.m.               Women's 60 Meters – Final
1:30 p.m.               Men's 800 Meters – Final
1:40 p.m.               Women's 800 Meters – Final
1:50 p.m.               Men's 200 Meters – Final
2:05 p.m.               Women's 200 Meters – Final
2:20 p.m.               Men's 3,000 Meters – Final (Section 1 of 2 – Cisneros, Vickstrom)
2:50 p.m.               Women's 3,000 Meters – Final (Section 1 of 2 – Gibson, Medved)
3:20 p.m.               Men's 4x400-Meter Relay – Final (Section 1 of 3 – Portland State 'A' – Barrow, Davis, Payton, Robinson)
 
UPCOMING
If any Viking puts up marks that move them into the top 16 of the NCAA after the Big Sky Indoor Championships, then they'll advance to the NCAA Indoor Championships, March 8-9, in Birmingham, Ala. Only Gayle Imran-Sideris (women's triple jump, 2006) and Geronne Black (women's 60 meters, 2013) have ever qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships before for the Vikings.
 
The Vikings will also compete at the first outdoor meet of the season at the Willamette Opener, March 2, in Salem, Ore.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Due to weather cancellations, the Vikings last competed at the D1 Invitational Team Challenge on Feb. 1. The Vikings showed wide-spread improvement at the D1 Invitational Team Challenge while competing on the same track that they did at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open and Multi Events three weeks earlier.
 
Freshman Chase Lovercheck underscored the self-improvement theme for the Vikings, as he shaved two and a half seconds off his personal best in the men's 800 meters while placing second in 1:54.94. That time put Lovercheck just a tenth of a second behind the No. 10 time all time at Portland State, which Joel Hoff set at 1:54.84 in 2004. Lovercheck's time also stands as the fourth-best indoor-800-meter time by a Viking freshman since freshmen records date back to 2004.
 
Freshman Linnaea Kavulich placed third on the women's side of the 800 meters, three weeks after she won the mile at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open and Multi Events on the same track. Kavulich placed third with a time of 2:18.60, better than her outdoor personal best in the 800 meters of 2:19.32.
 
Several Vikings also shaved chunks of time off their finishes three weeks ago in the men's and women's 3,000 meters. Freshman Phoebe Jacques knocked close to 10 seconds off her previous time while placing as the top Viking and fifth overall in the women's 3,000 meters. Jacques finished in 10:30.45 Friday, the sixth-best time by a Viking freshman since 2004.
 
On the men's side, freshman Ian Vickstrom lowered his time from three weeks ago by more than 10 seconds while finishing in 8:56.49 Friday. Jason Rae, Nigel Leonis and Cody Jones all lowered their 3,000-meter times, as well, as they finished in 9:04.45, 9:28.85 and 9:34.06, respectively.
 
Sophomore Braden Masanga ran his first 60-meter hurdles race since taking part in the heptathlon three weeks ago at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open. Masanga finished in 9.49 seconds Friday, more than three-tenths of a second better than his time of 9.80 seconds during the heptathlon three weeks ago.
 
Masanga also matched teammate Griffin Johnson with a mark of 12-11.50 (3.95m) in the pole vault. That set a seasonal best in the event for Masanga, and improved Johnson's indoor personal best in the event by two inches. Johnson took over 10th place all time in the indoor pole vault by himself with the mark.
 
Sophomores Kameron Smith and Alexis Buckhaults also made improvements from three weeks ago in the women's 60 meters and triple jump, respectively. Smith improved her time in the 60 meters by six-tenths of a second, as she finished in 8.25 seconds Friday. Buckhaults, meanwhile, bettered her mark in the triple jump by more than a foot, as she placed sixth in the competition with a personal-best mark of 35-09.25 (10.90m).
 
ROBINSON DEFENDING BIG SKY HEPTATHLON AND DECATHLON CHAMPION
Redshirt senior Donté Robinson returned for a final year at Portland State after sweeping the Big Sky heptathlon and decathlon titles last season. Robinson became just the second Viking ever to sweep both titles in a single year, joining PSU hall-of-famer Nick Trubachik, who swept the titles in 2010 – the season he went on to become the Vikings' first NCAA first-team All-American.
 
Robinson should be chasing Trubachik again this season, as he looks to match or surpass the history made by Trubachik at Portland State. If Robinson were to sweep the heptathlon and decathlon titles again this season, he'll match Trubachik with four Big Sky multi-event titles in his career. Robinson also ranks second to Trubachik in the heptathlon (Trubachik 5,432 points; Robinson 5,396 points after the UW Invitational on Jan. 25-26) and decathlon (Trubachik 7,510 points; Robinson 7,307 points) in the Portland State record books.
 
No Big Sky athlete – not even Trubachik – has swept the multi-event titles in back-to-back years, however, and even repeats in the heptathlon and decathlon have been rare in recent years. Trubachik stands as the only athlete in conference history to repeat as the Big Sky heptathlon champion, when he won back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. Meanwhile, no athlete has repeated as the Big Sky decathlon champion since Idaho State's Nathan Capps won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.
 
CISNEROS COMING OFF HISTORIC 2018 SEASON
Redshirt senior Alex Cisneros will finally race in a PSU singlet again during the indoor season, after having to sit out the cross country season in the fall due to exhausting his eligibility. Cisneros became the first Viking to qualify for the NCAA West Prelims in the men's 10,000 meters after breaking a 34-year-old school record in the event last outdoor season. Cisneros broke the 10,000-meter record with his finish in 29:25.74 at the Mt. SAC Relays, making him the first Viking to crack 29:30 in the 10k.
 
Cisneros also broke the school records in the indoor 3,000 and 5,000 meters earlier in 2018, and became the first Viking since 2005 to crack the top 10 all time in the outdoor 5,000 meters despite running through a steady downpour at his first outdoor meet of the season last year.
 
GIBSON, MEDVED READY TO PUSH EACH OTHER IN FINAL SEASON TOGETHER
Kaila Gibson and Sarah Medved went back-and-forth at the top for the Viking women's cross country team in the fall, and should lead the Viking women's track team as well. The pair often set history alongside each other during the fall, as Gibson and Medved finished ninth and 10th, respectively, at the Big Sky cross country meet – making them the first pair of teammates to earn All-Big Sky honors in the same race. Medved then took the lead at the NCAA West Regional while the pair placed 39th and 40th overall, making them the first teammates to place together in the top 50 – let alone the top 40 – at the regional meet. Medved broke the school record in the cross country 6k with her finish in 20:48.1 at the NCAA West Regional, while Gibson's time of 20:48.4 would have also broken the record.
 
Medved's strong cross country season came on the heels of a breakout 2018 outdoor track & field season in which she became the Vikings' first-ever Big Sky champion in the steeplechase. Medved also became the Vikings' first-ever NCAA West Prelims qualifier in the steeplechase, and broke the school record in the event twice – the last time coming with a finish in 10:21.56 at the Mt. SAC Relays.
 
Gibson attempted to join her training partner at the NCAA West Prelims last season, but a heroic effort in the 10,000 meters at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships came up short. Gibson still placed fifth in a personal-best 35:24.64 despite having to push the pace most of the way.
 
Gibson shaved 20 seconds off her own record in the indoor 5,000 meters at the UW Invitational on Jan. 25 this season. Gibson also moved up to third all time in the 3,000 meters with her time of 9:52.40 at the UW Indoor Open last season.