Complete Meet Notes (PDF)

THE STARTING BLOCK
After split squads the past two meet weekends for the Portland State track & field team, the Vikings will finally all compete at the same meet this Friday, when they head down to the John Knight Twilight, hosted by Western Oregon University, at McArthur Field in Monmouth, Ore.
 
It still won't be a true full showing by the Vikings since the longest event on the track for the team will only be 1,500 meters, but the Vikings will at least have their mid-distance crew alongside their sprinters, hurdlers and field eventers at the meet.
 
Freshmen middle distance runners Luke Ramirez, Chase Lovercheck and Linnaea Kavulich will compete Friday, a week after all put up good showings between the Mike Fanelli Track Classic and the Pacific Open last weekend.
 
Kavulich ran her first-ever 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic last Thursday, and moved up to third all time in the event at Portland State following her debut. Kavulich finished in 11:14.99, ranking her behind only teammate Sarah Medved and Mandy Peterson in the PSU record books.
 
Ramirez shined a day later at the same meet, as he posted his first sub-four-minute 1,500 meters last Friday. Ramirez finished in 3:56.34, the best 1,500-meter time by a Viking freshman since freshman records go back through the 2003 season. Ramirez's prep personal best in the 1,500 meters was 4:00.2, close to four seconds slower than his first 1,500-meter race as a Viking.
 
Lovercheck stayed in the Portland area last weekend and won the men's 800 meters at the Pacific Open in a time of 1:56.33. That also was a personal best for Lovercheck, who beat his prep personal best by half a second.
 
Lovercheck moves down to the 400 meters Friday at the John Knight Twilight, while Ramirez shifts down to the 800 meters. Kavulich will also run her first 800 meters on the women's side.
 
Multi-eventers Donté Robinson and Kristen O'Handley compete across three different events each at the meet. Robinson will compete in the pole vault and discus on the field side, while also running his first 200-meter race of the outdoor season. O'Handley, meanwhile, joins teammate Alexis Buckhaults in the 100-meter hurdles, while also competing in the long jump and javelin.
 
O'Handley has posted back-to-back personal bests in the javelin in her first two meets of the outdoor season. O'Handley improved her personal best by more than 27 feet at her first meet of the outdoor season, and then upped it by another two inches Saturday at the Pacific Open.
 
Sophomore Ceil Dunleavy has also won the women's high jump at her first two meets of the outdoor season, and will compete in the event again Friday alongside teammate Taylor Elliott. Junior Angela Mumford won the shot put at the Pacific Open last Saturday, and will compete in the shot put and discus again at the John Knight Twilight Friday.
 
Robinson, Braden Masanga and Griffin Johnson will open the meet for the Vikings, as they compete in the men's pole vault, which starts after the conclusion of the women's pole vault at 2:30 p.m.
 
MEET INFO
April 5 – John Knight Twilight – Monmouth, Ore. (McArthur Field)
 
JOHN KNIGHT TWILIGHT TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Friday, April 5
Field Events
Start (PT)                    Events (PSU entries)
After W-PV at 2:30      Men's Pole Vault (Johnson, Masanga, Robinson)
3:30 p.m.                     Women's Long Jump (O'Handley, Terry)
4 p.m.                          Women's Javelin (Cornett, Matsuzaki, Milroy, O'Handley)
4:10 p.m.                     Men's Discus (Robinson)
After M-SP at 3:15      Women's Shot Put (Mumford)
After W-Jav at 4:00     Men's Javelin (Rwandika)
After M-Dis at 4:10     Women's Discus (Mumford)
After M-HJ at 4:45      Women's High Jump (Dunleavy, Elliott)
 
Running Events
Start (PT)                    Events (PSU entries)
4:20 p.m.                     Women's 100-Meter Hurdles (Buckhaults, O'Handley)
4:50 p.m.                     Men's 400 Meters (Lovercheck, Payton)
5:05 p.m.                     Women's 100 Meters (Smith)
5:35 p.m.                     Women's 800 Meters (Kavulich, Walker)
5:50 p.m.                     Men's 800 Meters (Hvidsten, Jemison, Lawrence, Maule, Ramirez)
6:25 p.m.                     Women's 200 Meters (Smith)
6:40 p.m.                     Men's 200 Meters (Robinson)
6:50 p.m.                     Women's 1,500 Meters (Baldwin-Joiner, Brown, Salazar)
7:10 p.m.                     Men's 1,500 Meters (Shelevy, Solano, A., Solano, E., Werth)
                                    
UPCOMING
The Vikings split their time between two meets next weekend. The Vikings head to the Jay Hammer Invitational, hosted by Saint Martin's University, in Lacey, Wash., and go back to Hanson Stadium for the Pacific Luau Invitational, hosted by Pacific University (Ore.), in Forest Grove, Ore. Both meets take place next Saturday, April 13.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Vikings competed at three different meets last weekend. The Viking distance crew went to two different meets in the Bay Area, while the rest of the Vikings competed at the Pacific Open in Forest Grove, Ore.
 
Kaila Gibson and Sarah Medved headlined the Viking distance runners last weekend, as they competed at the Stanford Invitational last Friday. Gibson posted the most dramatic improvement of the day, as she knocked 80 seconds off her personal best in the women's 10,000 meters while finishing a race that concluded at 11 p.m. in 34:12.56. It was a dramatic improvement over Gibson's first attempt at the 10,000 meters, which came amid a late bid for a spot at the 2018 NCAA West Prelims at last season's Big Sky Outdoor Championships. Gibson finished that race in 35:24.64, a far cry from her performance last Friday.
 
Gibson's time at the Stanford Invite was more than 30 seconds faster than the final NCAA West Prelims qualifying time last season (34:47.00). Gibson also moved up to third in the PSU record books in the 10,000 meters, behind only Debbie Myra (33:51.40) and Sarah Dean (34:00.32).
 
Medved,who qualified for last season's NCAA West Prelims in the steeplechase, will hope to join Gibson with a qualifying time later in the season. Medved finished the steeplechase in 10:42.03 Friday despite running in someone else's spikes and without her contacts due to someone stealing a number of the Vikings' backpacks out of their team van the day before. Despite all that, Medved's time was still only 10 seconds behind the final qualifying time last season, which was 10:32.47.
 
Youth and experience shared the spotlight for the Vikings in the team's other Bay Area meet, the Mike Fanelli Track Classic, hosted by San Francisco State University at Chabot College. Seven Vikings set personal bests in their events, with freshman Luke Ramirez leading the way with his first sub-four-minute 1,500 meters. Ramirez finished in 3:56.34 Friday, the best 1,500-meter time by a Viking freshman since freshman records go back through the 2003 season. Junior Andrew Stafford also recorded his first sub-four-minute 1,500-meter time while finishing in 3:57.18. 
 
Redshirt senior Alex Cisneros did not set a personal best Friday, but led a group of five Vikings in the men's 5,000 meters. Cisneros, who sat out the entire cross country season and all but one race during the indoor season, showed dramatic improvement over his first 5,000-meter race this season. Cisneros finished his first 5,000 in 15:22.87 at the L&C Spring Break Open under two weeks ago, but knocked more than half a minute off that time with his finish in 14:45.81. 
 
Two freshmen moved into the PSU record books of the men's and women's steeplechase Thursday at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic. Linnaea Kavulich finished her first collegiate steeplechase in 11:14.99, moving her up to third all time in the event at Portland State after her debut. Fellow freshman Drew Seidel also moved into the men's top 10 with a finish in 9:29.98.
 
The Vikings closed out the busy weekend at the Pacific Open Saturday where five Vikings won their events. The Viking women accounted for four of the five event wins, while freshman Chase Lovercheck won the men's 800 meters for the Vikings.
 
Kristen O'Handley won the women's 200 meters in a new personal-best 24.77 seconds, while Ceil Dunleavy won the women's high jump for the second straight meet. Alana Baldwin-Joiner also won the women's 5,000 meters, while Angela Mumford won the shot put.
 
GIBSON NAMED ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Redshirt junior Kaila Gibson was named the Big Sky Women's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week Monday after her 80-second personal best in the 10,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational last Friday. Gibson became the Vikings' first Big Sky Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week since 2017 with the honor, as well as just the second honoree since 2014. Gibson was also the first Viking to be named the Big Sky Cross Country Athlete of the Week since 2016 during the fall.
 
NCAA WEST RANKINGS WATCH
Kaila Gibson's performance in the 10,000 meters put her in good standings to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds at the end of May, the goal for every Viking athlete except the multi-eventers. The top 24 athletes nationally in the heptathlon and decathlon by the end of the second weekend of May advance straight to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June. Everyone else has to go through the NCAA West Prelims, which take the top 48 declared student-athletes in each of the individual events.
 
Gibson's big personal best at the Stanford Invitational moved her up to 27th in the NCAA west region, well within the qualifying zone for the NCAA West Prelims. Sarah Medved also stands in qualifying position in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, as she ranks 39th in the west at the moment. Medved will likely need to lower her time later in the season to qualify, however, since her time at the Stanford Invite (10:42.03) was slower than the final qualifying time last season (10:32.47).
 
ROBINSON GOES FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT MULTI-EVENT TITLE DURING OUTDOOR SEASON
Redshirt senior Donté Robinson defended his Big Sky heptathlon title at the Big Sky Indoor Championships earlier this season, and will be looking to become the first men's athletes in the history of the Big Sky Conference to win four straight multi-event titles when he defends his decathlon title at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships, May 8-11, in Missoula, Mont.
 
Robinson already joined elite company when he swept the multi-event titles at last year's Big Sky meets. Robinson became just the second Viking ever to sweep both the heptathlon and decathlon 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 and Trubachik are also the only athletes to repeat as Big Sky champion in the heptathlon. 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.
 
Robinson missed breaking Trubachik's school record in the heptathlon by only 36 points at the UW Invitational, but could be chasing Trubachik's record in the decathlon during the outdoor season. Trubachik set the school record with a score of 7,510 points at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships, where he earned his All-American honors with a seventh-place finish in the event. Robinson set his best in the decathlon at 7,307 points while winning the event at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships last season.
 
CISNEROS COMING OFF HISTORIC 2018 SEASON
Redshirt senior Alex Cisneros will be more excited than anyone to get outdoors. Cisneros did not compete until the Big Sky Indoor Championships during the indoor season, and had 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
Training partners Kaila Gibson and Sarah Medved have been reliable headliners for the Portland State distance runners so far this season, and should be again during the outdoor season.
 
During the indoor season, Gibson scored for the Vikings with a sixth-place finish at the Big Sky meet in the women's indoor 5,000 meters – just the third time a Viking has scored in the event, though the second time for Gibson. Medved, meanwhile, anchored the Vikings' distance medley relay team that scored with an eighth-place finish.
 
Gibson also 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.
 
The two really pushed each other to greater heights during the fall cross country season, however. Gibson and Medved became the first pair of Viking teammates to earn All-Big Sky honors in the same race at the Big Sky Cross Country Championships. Gibson placed ninth for her highest finish ever at a Big Sky cross country meet, while Medved placed 10th after also placing 10th in 2016. Medved then took the lead at the NCAA West Regional while the pair placed 39th and 40th overall, respectively, making them the first Viking 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 previous 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 Medved 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 the 10,000 meters in a personal-best 35:24.64 despite having to hold the lead for most of the race.