RESULTS (PDF)

MISSOULA, Mont. — Sarah Medved proved she was in a class by herself Friday, winning her second straight Big Sky title in the steeplechase on Day 3 of the Big Sky Outdoor Championships at Dornblaser Field.
 
Where last year Medved sat on another runner's hip until sprinting to the finish with 150-200 meters to go, she left no doubt this time around, passing Southern Utah's Morgan Porcaro with two laps to go and beating the field by more than six and a half seconds. Medved led Porcaro by 25-30 meters throughout the final two laps of the race, finishing in 10:36.36 to Porcaro's 10:42.87.
 
No Viking had ever won a Big Sky title in the men's or women's steeplechase before Medved last year, and the fifth-year senior now has two titles to her name. Additionally, Medved became the first Big Sky athlete to repeat as the women's steeplechase champion since Weber State's Amber Henry won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.
 
Porcaro took the early lead in the race, with Medved initially staying 5-10 meters back in the chase group. Medved soon moved up with Porcaro, however, and the pair led the rest of the field by 25 meters or so until Medved made her push with two laps to go.
 
Freshman Drew Seidel scored for the Vikings on the men's side of the steeplechase, as he placed seventh overall in a new personal-best 9:26.85. Freshman Josh Snyder also set a new personal best while placing 13th in 9:53.15.
 
Freshman Phoebe Jacques matched Seidel with a seventh-place finish in the women's 10,000 meters, scoring for the Vikings while finishing in 36:56.54. Jacques became just the second Viking freshman in the past 16 years to crack 37 minutes in the 10k, joining Medved, whose best time as a freshman was 36:13.69 back in 2016.
 
Junior Jason Rae did not score for the Vikings in the men's 10k, but still set a new personal best and moved up to 10th all time in the event with his finish in 31:55.30. Rae was running the 10k for just the second time as a Viking, and shaved more than two and a half minutes off of his first attempt, which came at the SF State Distance Carnival in the early part of last season.
 
Sophomore Kristen O'Handley, meanwhile, set herself up for a potentially big Saturday while qualifying for the finals in the 100 and 200 meters. O'Handley placed seventh overall in the prelims of the 100 meters while finishing in a new personal-best 12.04 seconds. She was even better in the prelims of the 200 meters, placing fourth overall in 24.24 seconds. O'Handley's 200-meter time would have set a half-second personal best for the sophomore if she hadn't finished the heptathlon 200 meters in 24.23 seconds during the first day of the Big Sky heptathlon Wednesday.
 
O'Handley will likely add to her point total Saturday, after already scoring for the Vikings with a fifth-place finish in the heptathlon Thursday. O'Handley placed fifth while breaking the 5,000-point barrier for the first time with a score of 5,029 points. That marked a 158-point personal best for O'Handley, and came only three weeks after she set a 293-point personal best at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
 
Freshmen Chase Lovercheck and Luke Ramirez added two more personal bests for the Vikings while competing in the prelims of the men's 800 and 1,500 meters, respectively. Lovercheck made a late push to the line to qualify himself for the finals of the 800 meters behind a new personal best of 1:52.98. That marked a second and a half personal best for Lovercheck, who set his previous best of 1:54.56 just two weeks earlier at the OSU High Performance meet.
 
Ramirez didn't advance to the finals of the men's 1,500 meters, but broke his own record for a PSU freshman in the event while finishing in 3:56.26. Ramirez set the previous PSU freshman record while finishing in 3:56.34 at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic on March 29.
 
Junior Angela Mumford came close to her personal best in the women's shot put while placing 11th overall with a mark of 43-01.00 (13.13m). Mumford set her personal best at 43-07.25 (13.29m) at the John Knight Twilight, moving her up to sixth all time in the event at Portland State.
 
The Big Sky meet concludes tomorrow with O'Handley, Ceil Dunleavy and Taylor Elliott opening events for the Vikings with the women's high jump at 11 a.m. (MT). O'Handley will also open events on the track for the Vikings with the finals of the women's 100 meters at 3:15 p.m. (MT).
 
Big Sky Outdoor Championships
Dornblaser Field
Missoula, Mont.
May 8-10, 2019
 
Women's Results:
100m (Prelims): 7. Kristen O'Handley, 12.04. 200m (Prelims): 4. Kristen O'Handley, 24.24. 1,500m (Prelims): 15. Linnaea Kavulich, 4:44.10. 10,000m: 7. Phoebe Jacques, 36:56.54. 3,000m Steeplechase: 1. Sarah Medved, 10:36.36. Shot Put: 11. Angela Mumford, 43-01.00 (13.13m). Javelin: 19. Megan Cornett, 125-10 (38.36m). Heptathlon:5. Kristen O'Handley, 5,029 points (100H: 4. 14.82, 866 points; High Jump: T-4. 5-05.00 (1.65m), 795 points; Shot Put: 11. 32-05.50 (9.89m), 522 points; 200m: 1. 24.23, 959 points; Long Jump: 9. 17-08.00 (5.38m), 665 points; Javelin: 11. 90-08 (27.65m), 432 points; 800m: 4. 2:22.51, 790 points).
 
Men's Results:
800m (Prelims): 8. Chase Lovercheck, 1:52.98. 1,500m (Prelims): 20. Luke Ramirez, 3:56.26; 25. Andrew Stafford, 4:04.00. 10,000m: 13. Jason Rae, 31:55.30. 3,000m Steeplechase: 7. Drew Seidel, 9:26.85; 13. Josh Snyder, 9:53.15. High Jump: T-8. Donté Robinson, 6-04.00 (1.93m). Decathlon: DNF. Donté Robinson, 5,266 points through seven events (100m: 2. 11.14, 830 points; Long Jump: 2. 23-02.50 (7.07m), 830 points; Shot Put: 2. 38-09.75 (11.83m), 596 points; High Jump: 1. 6-07.00 (2.01m), 813 points; 400m: 4. 51.08, 765 points; 110H: 1. 15.06, 842 points; Discus: 3. 119-02 (36.32m), 590 points; Pole Vault: NH, 0 points; Javelin: Foul, 0 points; 1,500m: DNS, 0 points).