Complete Meet Notes (PDF)
THE STARTING BLOCKS
Climb the ladder. That will be the task ahead of the Portland State track & field team this weekend. Not just because of the elevated position of the track at the Chiles Center, where the Vikings will compete Sunday on the second day of the Portland Indoor Three. Rather, climb the ladder so the Vikings competing this weekend move up to faster heats the next time they compete at a Portland Indoor meet, or possibly even move on to bigger meets next season.
This weekend's Portland Indoor Three represents the last of the three meets co-hosted by George Fox University and the University of Portland. As with the previous two meets, George Fox hosts the shorts sprints, hurdles and field events at its Multi-Use Facility Saturday, while distance events and the longer sprints take place at UP's Chiles Center Sunday.
This weekend's go-around comes a week before the Big Sky Indoor Championships, Feb. 27-29, in Pocatello, Idaho. The Vikings' participants this weekend aren't likely to compete at next week's conference meet, making this weekend – along with a bonus meet at the SPU Final Qualifier in Seattle next Saturday – their de facto conference meet.
The conference mindset should play into the climb-the-ladder theme, as this weekend's athletes look to prove themselves for one of the last times during the indoor season.
Angela Mumford and
Kameron Smith – both upperclassmen – take the reins for the Vikings Saturday, as they compete in the shot put and 60 meters, respectively.
Sunday will be about the distance events, where a lot of the Vikings' youth will be looking for times that will either move them into faster heats at next year's Portland Indoor meets, or qualify them for one of next year's meets at the University of Washington.
Most of the Vikings' Sunday entries are in the mile, where five Vikings will compete on the women's side with seven more on the men's side. Of those, sophomore
Phoebe Brown shaved 12 seconds off her personal best in the mile while finishing in 5:14.43 at the previous Portland Indoor meet on Feb. 9.
Sophie Jones also ran the mile that day, shaving eight seconds off her personal best while finishing in 5:25.31.
Delaney White ran the mile at the first Portland Indoor meet of the season, where she shaved nine seconds off her personal best while winning her heat in a time of 5:17.75.
Freshman
Brandon Hippe holds the top qualifying time by a Viking in the men's mile, having run a 4:27.23 indoor mile while in high school. Classmates
Sam Lingwall and
Kelly Shedd set their mile times at 4:34.81 and 4:35.88, respectively, at the first Portland Indoor meet, same as
Zach Grams, who finished in 4:36.42.
Erik Solano ran the mile in 4:36.14 at the second Portland Indoor meet and will run it again Sunday, along with
Cody Jones and
Nigel Leonis.
Clinton Omondi and
Mitchell Tolander will run for the Vikings in the men's 800 meters, while
Jason Rae is entered in the men' 3,000 meters.
On the women's side, Smith will return to the track for the 200 meters Sunday after running the 60 meters at George Fox Saturday.
Keely Wolf is also entered in the women's 800 meters, while
Monica Salazar – who has inched closer and closer to breaking 11 minutes in the 3,000 meters at the previous two Portland Indoor meets – will run the 3k again Sunday. Salazar came within two seconds of breaking the 11-minute barrier while finishing in 11:01.89 last time.
Break 11 minutes Sunday, and Salazar will have climbed the ladder.
MEET INFO:
Feb. 22-23 – Portland Indoor Three –
Saturday Events at Newberg, Ore. (Multi-Use Facility);
Sunday Events at Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center)
MEET SCHEDULE:
Saturday, Feb. 22 (at George Fox's Multi-Use Facility)
Field Events
Start (PT) Events (PSU entries)
After W-WT at 11 Women's Shot Put (Mumford)
Running Events
Start (PT) Events (PSU entries)
After M-60H at 11 Women's 60 Meters – Prelims (Smith)
After M-60H final Women's 60 Meters – Finals
Sunday, Feb. 23 (at the University of Portland's Chiles Center)
Running Events
Start (PT) Events (PSU entries)
4 p.m. Women's 3,000 Meters (Salazar)
Men's 3,000 Meters (Rae)
Women's Mile (Brown, Eberspecher, Jones, Rodriguez, White)
Men's Mile (Grams, Jones, Hippe, Leonis, Lingwall, Shedd, Solano, E.)
Women's 800 Meters (Wolf)
Men's 800 Meters (Omondi, Tolander)
Women's 200 Meters (Smith)
UPCOMING
The Vikings conclude their indoor season at the Big Sky Indoor Championships and SPU Final Qualifier next weekend. The Big Sky Indoor Championships will take place Feb. 27-29, though the Vikings will only compete on the final two days of the meet in Pocatello, Idaho. The SPU Final Qualifier, hosted by Seattle Pacific University, will take place Feb. 29 at Dempsey Indoor in Seattle.
