BOZEMAN, Mont. — The painful things we endured before the COVID-19 pandemic either went one of two ways. Either we realized we didn't need those things anymore and dropped them, or we missed them enough that we're nostalgic for them despite the hardships they bring.
 
Count the Big Sky Indoor Championships – which is contested at elevations of 4,400-feet or higher three out of every four years – among the latter group for the Portland State track & field program. You'd think the Vikings wouldn't have missed sucking air at elevation, but they really did.
 
"They all want to go up there and show their stuff against the conference. Our conference is very deep and very talented, so we can get in the races and see how we stack up," Portland State head coach David Hepburn said of his athletes.
 
This weekend's Big Sky meet, which will be contested at nearly 5,000 feet of elevation in Bozeman, Mont., offers that chance for the Vikings. The meet starts Thursday with the multi-events, but the Vikings' portion of the meet covers only Friday and Saturday.
 
The Vikings haven't been at a Big Sky Indoor meet since 2020 when they ran in Pocatello, Idaho (elevation: 4,462 feet) two weeks before the pandemic shut everything down.
 
This time around, the Vikings bring a heavy hitter with them in Katie Camarena. Camarena leads the conference in the mile, 3,000 and 5,000 meters, though she won't run any of those distances at conference. In position to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, March 11-12, in the mile and 3k, Camarena will instead work on her speed in the 800 meters at the Big Sky meet.
 
"That's based on what's best for her," Hepburn said of the decision to have Camarena run the 800 meters. "It's two races, both fast and low volume. Two races where she'll have to find herself strategically running fast and engaged in those races. Obviously, you've got to get through the prelims, but if she does that then she can go in there and mix it up in the final."
 
It's not as if Camarena has been a scrub in the 800 meters when she's run it in the past, either. She placed second in the 800 meters at the 2021 Big West Outdoor Championships where she was the conference's Track Athlete of the Year. Camarena placed second while finishing in 2:05.52, three and a half seconds under the current 800-meter school record outdoors that Melissa Owens set at 2:09.01 in 2007.
 
The indoor record is a little slower – Chelsie Jorgensen set it at 2:12.32 in 2008 – but Camarena will also have to deal with the elevation and 200-meter flat track in Bozeman. Still, Camarena would appear to have a chance at adding a seventh school record to her resume this weekend, as well as a potential podium finish or conference title. Melanie Loff, of Northern Arizona, enters the meet as the conference favorite, as she currently leads the Big Sky by more than three seconds after finishing in 2:07.50 at the Husky Classic two weeks ago.
 
The Vikings will also be looking to make a splash in the men's and women's distance medley relays Friday night. It's not an event the Vikings have historically contested with much success. The women have only made the podium twice, and not since 2012, while the best the men have ever finished is fourth on two different occasions, the most recent being in 2011.
 
Maya Irving, Jalen Marcil Tatum Miller, Hunter Storm and Abi Swain are all in the relay pool for the Viking women. They'll also all run the 3,000 meters the next day, providing they feel fresh enough after the DMR. Storm, Miller and Swain have all set all-time top 10 marks in the 3k at various times this season.
 
The men have eight potential runners in the DMR, though the four planned entrants are Luke Ramirez (1200m leg), Harley Montgomery (400m leg), Chase Lovercheck (800m leg) and Jordan MacIntosh (1600m leg).
 
"J-Mac wants to be part of the team. It's sort of been his thing all year. He's been talking about it. And Chase, the same thing. They're pretty fired up for that," Hepburn said of MacIntosh and Lovercheck and the team's DMR plans. "They got Luke on board and Harley's going up there just to run the [400-meter leg]. He's super excited to just be on that team with guys who are super dedicated and committed to running a really good time, you know, and seeing where we are."
 
MacIntosh will also double back in the 3k the next day, along with Keynan Abdi, Cam McChesney and Drew Seidel. All four have set all-time top 10 marks at various times this season. MacIntosh and Abdi both went under the old record at the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 15, while Seidel knocked McChesney out of the all-time top 10 with a finish in 8:30.36 two weeks ago at the Husky Classic.
 
Seidel's mark continues a positive season for the senior, who sat the majority of the past two seasons with a debilitating back injury. 
 
"It's been a pretty cool season to have him return from medical retirement to running on conference squads, scoring at regionals [during the cross country season], and stuff like that. Obviously, he's earned the right to be up there and test the waters," Hepburn said of Seidel.
 
Ramirez will double back after the DMR to run the mile Saturday with Kelly Shedd. Ramirez moved up to ninth all-time in the mile with a two-and-a-half-second personal best of 4:13.36 two weeks ago at the Husky Classic.
 
Elsewhere, James Bottrill is entered in the men's 800 meters, while Zach Grams and Dom Morganti are entered in the men's 5,000 meters that will precede the women's and men's DMRs on Friday night.
 
They'll all suffer through the elevation, loving it, but still suffering. The one Viking who might be pleased with the elevation will be Jordan Gloden, who will run the 60-meter hurdles. Gloden is coming off a personal best of 8.23 seconds two weeks ago at the Husky Classic. That put him within .09 seconds of the school record Kamal-Craig Golaube set at 8.14 seconds at the 2018 Big Sky meet in Flagstaff, Ariz. (elevation: 6,909 feet).
 
Run a similar race in Bozeman, and that record could fall for Gloden. Add that to a potential seventh record for Camarena, as well as multiple chances for the Vikings to score, get on a podium, or even win a Big Sky title, and you can see why the Vikings have missed the Big Sky Indoor Championships.
 
Elevation, be damned.
 
MEET INFO
Feb. 24-26 – Big Sky Indoor Championships – Bozeman, Mont. (Worthington Arena)
 
MEET SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 25
Time (MT)       Event (PSU Entries)
3:20 p.m.         Men's 60-Meter Hurdles – Trials (Heat 3 of 3 – Gloden)
5:10 p.m.         Women's 800 Meters – Trials (Section 1 of 2 – Camarena)
7:10 p.m.         Men's 5,000 Meters – Final (Section 1 of 1 – Grams, Morganti)
7:35 p.m.         Women's DMR – Final (Section 1 of 1 – Portland State)
7:55 p.m.         Men's DMR – Final (Section 1 of 1 – Portland State)
 
Saturday, Feb. 26
Time (MT)       Event (PSU Entries)
12:15 p.m.       Men's Mile – Final (Section 1 of 2 – Ramirez, Shedd)
12:45 p.m.       Men's 60-Meter Hurdles – Final (Gloden, should he advance)
1:35 p.m.         Women's 800 Meters – Final (Camarena, should he advance)
2:30 p.m.         Women's 3,000 Meters – Final (Section 1 of 2 – Irving, Marcil, Miller, Storm, Swain)
3 p.m.              Men's 3,000 Meters – Final (Section 1 of 2 – McChesney, Seidel; Section 2 of 2 – Abdi, MacIntosh)