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SEATTLE, Wash. — Six-for-six.
NBA fans may think about Michael Jordan's NBA Finals record when reading that. Portland State track & field fans will think of
Katie Camarena after Saturday as the Vikings' record machine set her sixth school record – this time in the women's indoor mile – at the UW Invitational.
Camarena has set the school record in every event she has competed in this year at Portland State. She swept the 4k, 5k and 6k records during the fall cross country season, and now has the records in the indoor mile, 3k and 5k after the first three meets of the 2022 indoor season.
The mile record – Camarena's latest – may be her best yet. Her time of 4:34.26 was 17 seconds better than the previous record of 4:51.32, which Sarah Dean set in 2014. Additionally, Camarena's time moved her up to second all-time in Big Sky Conference history, trailing only Johanna Nilsson of Northern Arizona, who ran 4:32.49 in 2003.
Camarena also moved up to second all-time in Big Sky history while setting the Vikings' 5k record at 15:51.49 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on Dec. 4. She moved up to fifth all-time in conference history while setting the 3k school record at 9:16.35 at the UW Indoor Preview.
On top of the record, Saturday's mile time might see Camarena qualify for her second straight NCAA Championships. Camarena – who became the first Viking to qualify for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in the fall – finished under the times that have been the final qualifiers for the last three NCAA Indoor Championships. Only the top 16 qualify for the national indoor meet, but the 16th best time in the nation in 2021 was 4:37.63. Additionally, the 16th-best time in 2020 was 4:36.36, and the 16th-best time in 2019 was 4:35.15. All slower than the time Camarena ran Saturday.
Based on times coming into the weekend, Camarena's time Saturday would rank her third in the nation.
The final impressive element of Camarena's record run was the field she did it against. Camarena finished as the top collegian and second overall among a field that featured two University of Washington runners in Allie Schadler (finished third) and Haley Herberg (fifth), as well as two Big Sky rivals in Southern Utah's Alison Pray (seventh) and Northern Arizona's Taryn O'Neill (eighth). O'Neill was the Big Sky individual champion at the conference cross country meet in the fall, while Pray finished 50th at the 2021 winter NCAA cross country championships.
Camarena's record came alongside a school record in the men's mile for
Jordan MacIntosh. Camarena and MacIntosh swept the indoor 3k records two weeks ago at the UW Indoor Preview, so Saturday's sweep of the women's and men's mile records marks their second straight record sweep.
MacIntosh shaved five seconds off the men's record while finishing 18th overall in 4:04.28. MacIntosh comfortably beat a 17-year-old record in the mile, as he ran well under Evan Garich's old standard of 4:09.34 in 2005.
MacIntosh's time doesn't put him in the same national conversation as Camarena, but it does move him up to seventh in the Big Sky this season. The conference is one of the deepest when it comes to the men's mile, as three different runners rank among the top 11 in the nation after Saturday.
Outside of the mile competitions,
Chase Lovercheck ran his first 800-meter race of the season, finishing in 1:54.99. That's close to two seconds faster than his first 800-meter time during the 2020 indoor season, and wasn't far off his indoor best of 1:54.27, which he set at the 2020 Big Sky Indoor Championships.
Harley Montgomery won his section of the 400 meters with a time that was right around the mark he set two weeks ago at the UW Indoor Preview. Montgomery finished in 51.40 seconds Saturday, just six-hundredths of a second back from his time of 51.34 seconds two weeks ago.
Jordan Gloden also followed up a busy Friday in which he competed in the 60-meter hurdles and 200 meters by competing in the long jump Saturday. Gloden topped out at 20-07.25 (6.28m) on his third attempt of the day.
The Vikings will return to Seattle's Dempsey Indoor Facility in two weeks for the Husky Classic, Feb. 11-12. The Vikings will next compete at the Portland Indoor Three meet next Sunday, Feb. 6, at the Chiles Center.
UW Invitational
Dempsey Indoor
Seattle, Wash.
Jan. 28-29, 2022
Women's Results:
Mile: 2.
Katie Camarena, 4:34.26.
Men's Results:
200m: 14.
Harley Montgomery, 23.13; 16.
Jordan Gloden, 23.57.
400m: 10.
Harley Montgomery, 51.40.
800m: 17.
Chase Lovercheck, 1:54.99.
Mile: 18.
Jordan MacIntosh, 4:04.28.
5,000m: 11.
Keynan Abdi, 14:23.35.
60H (Prelims): 5.
Jordan Gloden, 8.39.
60H (Finals): 6.
Jordan Gloden, 8.42.
Long Jump: 16.
Jordan Gloden, 20-07.25 (6.28m).