PORTLAND, Ore. — Ian Vickstrom is taking his talents to South Beach. The freshman distance runner for the Portland State track & field team has officially been announced as a qualifier for the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships, June 21-23, in Miramar, Fla.
 
Vickstrom qualified in the 10,000 meters after finishing in 32:02.14 at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 17. Vickstrom's finish at the Bryan Clay Invite gave him the second-best 10,000-meter time by a Viking freshman in the past 16 years, and dipped him just under the 32:05 standard needed to qualify for the USATF meet. Jose Macias holds the best 10k time by a Viking freshman with his finish in 31:57.31 in 2015, the year he also qualified for the USATF junior outdoor meet.
 
Vickstrom can break Macias' freshman record when he races in the 10k next Friday. The men's 10,000 meters starts at 7:25 p.m. (ET) / 4:25 p.m. (PT) Friday, with Vickstrom racing among an 11-runner field.
 
Daniel Kilrea, a freshman at Notre Dame, holds the fastest qualifying time in the field after finishing in 28:55.25 at the Raleigh Relays back in March. Nehemiah Cionelo, a freshman at New Mexico, also dipped under 30 minutes at last weekend's Portland Track Festival where he finished in 29:46.60. Besides those two, the 10k field also features two runners from Florida State – Paul Stafford and Matthew Newland – as well as a runner from Georgia in Nicholas Yanek.
 
Vickstrom should enter the meet in good form after setting a new personal best in the 5,000 meters last Saturday at the Portland Track Festival. Vickstrom finished the 5k in 15:01.76, the second straight meet at which he's shaved five seconds off his personal best following the West Coast Invitational four weeks ago.