POCATELLO, Idaho — A new track is quite the welcome mat for a track & field program. And while the Idaho State Bengals hardly laid down its new track at Davis Field exclusively for Portland State, the Vikings would be smart to treat it as if they did as they compete at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships this week.
 
It's a split conference weekend for the Vikings this season, as part of the program will also compete at the Portland Distance Carnival this Saturday at Lewis & Clark's Eldon Fix Track. The idea being that splitting the squads would give everyone a chance to cap their season with a race rather than just those who head to conference.
 
"It'll be an interesting weekend. We've never really done this to this extent before. I hope it pays off for people," Portland State head coach David Hepburn said of the split squads.
 
For those attending conference, the week starts Wednesday with the first day of the decathlon. Harley Montgomery will be the lone Viking competing Wednesday, as well as Thursday when the decathlon wraps up. The senior has never competed in, let alone completed, a decathlon before, but he's been slowly preparing throughout the outdoor season. Montgomery competed in four of the 10 events in the decathlon (100m, long jump, high jump, 110-meter hurdles) during the outdoor regular season, and he practiced the others with Hepburn.
 
Hepburn coached Donté Robinson to three Big Sky titles in the multi-events (2018, 2019 heptathlon; 2018 decathlon), though he isn't putting pressure on Montgomery to match Robinson. Success for Montgomery would be to just complete the event, first of all, and then potentially sneak a point for the Vikings with an eighth-place finish or better.
 
"We're going to mess around, have some fun in the decathlon," Hepburn said of Montgomery's goals heading into the Big Sky meet. "He's gotten better. We're just going to go have a good time. He's having fun with it."
 
It's a different story for Chase Lovercheck. He's well-seasoned in the 800 meters, an event in which he made the podium as a freshman at the 2019 Big Sky Outdoor Championships. The pandemic and injuries have prevented Lovercheck from making a podium again in the 800 meters over the past two years, but he's been rounding into form nicely over the last four weeks.
 
"He's primed and ready to survive and advance and see how the race shapes up," Hepburn said of Lovercheck. "Lorenz [Herrmann from Idaho] is sort of a clear favorite, as far as the 800 goes, but the rest of the pack is within striking distance of each other. The difference between the 1:49.5 guy and the 1:50.5 guy, that's just a tactical thing. Chase can obviously run sub-1:50, he's just got to be in the right race. I think he's ready to go."
 
Lovercheck finally bettered his personal best from the 800 final at the 2019 Big Sky Outdoor Championships in his last race, finishing in 1:50.56 at the OSU High Performance Meet on April 30. That followed two other fast times as he ran 1:51.40 at the Bryan Clay Invitational – now his third-best time ever as a Viking after the OSU meet – and followed that with a 1:51.63 at the Oregon Relays.
 
Hepburn said the time at OSU may have even come on tired legs for Lovercheck, who had raced three straight weeks at that point. He was off last weekend, meaning he should be rested and ready by the time the prelims of the men's 800 meters come around Friday.
 
A few other Vikings will have to deal with prelims Friday if they hope to advance to a final Saturday. Jordan Gloden will run the prelims of both the 110- and 400-meter hurdles Friday. Gloden ran a pair of seasonal bests in both events at the OSU High Performance Meet two weeks ago, finishing the 110 hurdles in 14.95 seconds and the 400 hurdles in 55.87 seconds. Montgomery will also join Gloden in the prelims of the 400 hurdles Friday.
 
Luke Ramirez probably has the tallest task of anyone competing in a prelim, as he battles a stacked field in the men's 1,500 meters that has eight sub-3:44 runners this season. However, Ramirez has run well this season, having set a personal best of 3:50.10 at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 15. That time moved Ramirez up to fifth all-time in the event at Portland State, while he remains the second-fastest Viking at the distance since 2001.
 
The rest of the Vikings only have to deal with finals. Those include Keynan Abdi, Sam Lingwall and Evan Peters in the men's 10k, as well as Maya Irving in the women's 10k and Tatum Miller in the women's steeplechase. All five of those runners may also double back in the men's and women's 5k Saturday, depending on how they're feeling after their races Friday. And that's a big question because while none of the five have to deal with a prelim, they will have to deal with the 4,462 feet of elevation of Pocatello, Idaho.
 
The pain may be most acute in the men's and women's 10k's where three of the four Vikings are running the first or second 10k's of their careers. Abdi is the elder statesman of the bunch, having placed 11th among a stacked field at last year's Big Sky Outdoor Championships. Abdi was battling altitude there, too, as the races were in Ogden, Utah, and still managed to set a personal best while moving up to eighth all-time in the event with his finish in 31:21.59.
 
Lingwall and Peters will be new to the 10k this time around, though they've both had strong seasons to this point. Both have dipped under 14:30 in the 5k for the first time in their careers earlier this season.
 
"That can be a fun race to see who challenges each other without making a mistake and going out too fast at altitude," Hepburn said of the men's 10k. "They have to really be conservative up there. So, it'll be interesting to see."
 
Irving ran her first 10k on the women's side at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 14. It went well by all accounts, as she set a new freshman record at Portland State while moving up to ninth all-time in the event overall with her finish in 36:11.49.
 
Tatum Miller has two races now under her belt in the women's steeplechase, making Friday's final her third attempt at the event. Miller has been strong since the start, as she became just the second women's runner ever at Portland State to crack 11 minutes in the event while finishing in 10:55.89 at the NW Distance Jamboree on April 2. Miller lowered that time to 10:43.43 at the Mt. SAC Relays 12 days later, ranking her 10th in the Big Sky entering the conference meet.
 
Abi Swain and potentially Jalen Marcil will mirror Miller in the women's steeplechase, albeit at the Portland Distance Carnival instead of the Big Sky Outdoor Championships. They're part of the crew heading to that meet, which serves as a nice capper for those not going to conference.
 
"There's a lot of people who have had really good seasons and been lowering their times and are really fit and ready to go, but going up to elevation against some of the best distance runners in the country isn't necessarily going to be a positive experience for them, I don't think. The clock is not going to say what they want it to say because you're at altitude. So, they'll get great races here. They'll have a very positive experience here," Hepburn said of the decision to split the squads and send some athletes to the Portland Distance Carnival.
 
One of those runners will be Zach Grams, who will cap a breakout season with his first-ever 10k Saturday. Grams has lowered his 5k personal best three different times this season, and lowered his 1,500-meter personal best twice.
 
"He could be a decent 10k runner," Hepburn said of Grams. "I don't want to put any pressure on him, but it'll put a capper on a really nice season for him. He had consistent training all year. And he's got Dom to run with and Dom [Morganti] has done it [run a 10k] and done it this year."
 
Any of the Vikings, whether they're running at conference or at the Portland Distance Carnival, could move into qualifying position for the NCAA West Prelims (top 48 in the west) with a good time this weekend. If they do, then their season will be extended two more weeks, as the NCAA West Prelims are scheduled for May 25-28, in Fayetteville, Ark.
 
But for the majority of the Vikings, their seasons will end this weekend. So, they might as well go out with a bang. Idaho State laid out a new track for the Vikings, after all.
 
 
MEET INFO
May 11-14 – Big Sky Outdoor Championships – Pocatello, Idaho (Davis Field)
May 14 – Portland Distance Carnival – Portland, Ore. (Eldon Fix Track)
 
MEET SCHEDULE
Big Sky Outdoor Championships
Wednesday, May 11
Time (MT)       Event (PSU entries)
10 a.m.            Men's Decathlon 100 Meters (Heat 2 of 2 – Montgomery)
                        Men's Decathlon Long Jump (Flight 1 of 1 – Montgomery)
                        Men's Decathlon Shot Put (Flight 1 of 1 – Montgomery)
                        Men's Decathlon High Jump (Flight 1 of 1 – Montgomery)
                        Men's Decathlon 400 Meters (Heat 1 of 2 – Montgomery)
 
Thursday, May 12
Time (MT)       Event (PSU entries)
10 a.m.            Men's Decathlon 110-Meter Hurdles (Heat 3 of 4 – Montgomery)
                        Men's Decathlon Discus (Flight 1 of 1 – Montgomery)
                        Men's Decathlon Pole Vault (Flight 1 of 1 – Montgomery)
                        Men's Decathlon Javelin (Flight 1 of 1 – Montgomery)
                        Men's Decathlon 1,500 Meters (Section 1 of 1 – Montgomery)
 
Friday, May 13
Time (MT)       Event (PSU entries)
1:55 pm.          Women's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase (Section 2 of 2 – Miller)
2:20 p.m.         Men's 1,500 Meters – Prelims (Section 2 of 2 – Ramirez)
2:55 p.m.         Men's 110-Meter Hurdles – Prelims (Heat 2 of 2 – Gloden)
4:40 p.m.         Men's 800 Meters – Prelims (Section 1 of 3 – Ramirez; Section 3 of 3 – Lovercheck)
5:15 p.m.         Men's 400-Meter Hurdles – Prelims (Section 1 of 2 – Montgomery; Section 2 of 2 - Gloden)
6:25 p.m.         Men's 10,000 Meters (Section 1 of 1 – Abdi, Lingwall, Peters)
7:05 p.m.         Women's 10,000 Meters (Section 1 of 1 – Irving)
 
Saturday, May 14
Time (MT)       Event (PSU entries)
3:05 p.m.         Men's 110-Meter Hurdles (Gloden)
4 p.m.              Men's 800 Meters (Lovercheck)
5 p.m.              Men's 5,000 Meters (Abdi, Lingwall, Peters)
5:25 p.m.         Women's 5,000 Meters (Irving, Miller)
 
Portland Distance Carnival
Saturday, May 14
Time (PT)        Event (PSU entries)
4:50 p.m.         Women's 800 Meters (Section 1 of 2 – Brooks)
4:58 p.m.         Men's 800 Meters (Section 1 of 3 – Bottrill; Section 2 of 3 – Muse, Salcido)
5:25 p.m.         Women's 1,500 Meters (Section 2 of 3 – Brooks, Jones, Martino; Section 3 of 3 – Abbett, Beghin, Donde, Faust, Newville)
5:45 p.m.         Men's 1,500 Meters (Section 2 of 3 – Hippe, McChesney; Section 3 of 3 – Carlson, Muse, Shedd)
7 p.m.              Women's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase (Section 1 of 1 – Marcil, Swain)
7:15 p.m.         Women's 5,000 Meters (Brown, Hackett, Newville, Owen, Tafoya)
7:40 p.m.         Men's 5,000 Meters (Ibrahim, McChesney, Schulte, Solano, A., Solano, E.)
8:20 p.m.         Women's 5,000 Meters (Burke, Marcil)
9 p.m.              Men's 10,000 Meters (Section 1 of 1 – Grams, Ibrahim, McChesney, Morganti, Solano, A.)