RESULTS

CORVALLIS, Ore. — At the time Sarah Medved set the school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2018, she was more than 50 seconds clear of the No. 2 runner. On Friday, three different Vikings went under Medved's old record. Such is the strength of the Portland State track & field team's women's steeplechase crew, which had its coming out party on the first day of the OSU High Performance Meet.
 
The crew hardly needed a coming out party, considering they've ranked third in the nation all season, according to USTFCCCA's Event Squad rankings. Even still, the team's depth in the event took another step Friday as the Vikings saw the school record in the steeplechase pass from teammate to teammate. Just two weeks after Bára Stýblová initially broke Medved's record at the Bryan Clay Invitational, Tatum Miller lowered the record again, this time to 10:14.62. Miller did so while closing with a 75-second last lap. That was more than five seconds faster than any of her other laps Friday, and seven seconds faster than the lap she ran right before the bell.
 
Alex Barbour followed with a personal best of 10:19.67 – in which she closed in 69 seconds – while Stýblová followed in 10:21.23.
 
The record emphatically moved Miller off the qualifying bubble for the NCAA West Prelims at the end of May. Ranked 42nd in the NCAA west region, Miller would now rank 27th based on times coming into the weekend. Barbour also should have done enough to move herself off the bubble. She came into Friday ranked just ahead of Miller at 41st, but would now rank 34th. Stýblová entered Friday more secure than her teammates and she remains that way, as her former record time of 10:17.05 ranked her 30th coming into the weekend.
 
Abdi Ibrahim and Jamie Zamrin added two more top 10 marks for the Vikings in the men's and women's 5k. Ibrahim finished in 14:28.37, moving him up to 10th all time while bettering his overall personal best by three seconds, as well as his best in a PSU uniform by more than 27 seconds. Zamrin, meanwhile, cracked 17 minutes for the first time while finishing in 16:56.93 to jump up to eighth all time. Zamrin took a page from Miller, closing in 71 seconds after running 80+ in all but two other laps.
 
Abi Swain would have moved up to 10th all time if not for Zamrin. Still, they'll settle for an 18-second personal best with a finish in 17:02.70. Dom Morganti also ran the men's 5k in 14:30.01, just off his personal best of 14:28.32.
 
Isa Swain, Abi's sister, won the open section of the women's 5k with a personal best of her own. Isa won by more than nine seconds while finishing in 17:43.36. Abby Donde set her own personal best of 18:46.43 while also running in the open section of the 5k.
 
The middle distances saw a number of Vikings stand out, too.
 
Natalia Martino posted the top time for the Vikings in the women's 1,500 meters. She finished in 4:35.60, the third time this season that she's cracked 4:40 after never having done so before this year.
 
Laura Beghin, meanwhile, continued her stellar season with her third personal best of the season in 1,500 meters. Beghin finished in 4:41.35, knocking another quarter second off her best two weeks after she ran a seven-second personal best at the Larry Byerly L&C Invite.
 
Aiden Carlson posted the biggest personal best of the mid-distance crew for the Vikings. Carlson finished in 4:04.47, setting an overall best by two and a half seconds, as well as PSU best by close to 10 seconds. Stirling Marshall-Pryde also ran his first 1,500-meter race as a Viking Friday, finishing in 4:07.82. While he didn't have a former time to better, his time beat his prep best in the 1,600 meters by more than 24 seconds.
 
Additionally, there were a few Vikings entering new territory Friday. Wendy Hare became the first Viking since Katie Baxter and Alexis Buckhaults in 2018 to run the women's 400-meter hurdles. Hare finished her first attempt at the event in 1:04.45.
 
Edward Niyongere, one of the newest Vikings, competed in his first collegiate long jump and promptly shattered his prep personal best in the event. Niyongere jumped 21-03.50 (6.49m) on his second attempt of the day, qualifying him for the finals and giving him a new personal best by close to two feet. Niyongere also beat his previous time in the 200 meters with a time of 23.63.
 
Gabrielle Bartlett tried to match Miller with a record in the women's pole vault. Bartlett – who has already twice set the school record in the event this season – cleared 11-05.75 (3.50m) for her second-best mark of the season. She then took three attempts at what would have been a school record of 11-11.75 (3.65m) but missed on all three.
 
Ahliah Nordstrom nearly set a new seasonal best in the women's hammer. She finished with a best mark of 126-02 (38.47m), just two inches off her previous best this season.
 
Dino Kahaulelio, one of three Viking football players competing for the track & field team Friday, beat his seasonal best in the men's discus by seven and a half feet, throwing 89-03 (27.21m). Jake Cooper, one of Kahaulelio's teammates on the football team, made his track & field debut with a throw of 93-07 (28.52m).
 
The Vikings will conclude the OSU High Performance Meet tomorrow. Kahaulelio and fellow football player Kennedy Freeman will open the day for the Vikings at 12 p.m. in the men's shot put.
 
OSU High Performance Meet
Whyte Track & Field Center
Corvallis, Ore.
April 28, 2023
 
Women's Results:
1,500m: 6. Natalia Martino, 4:35.60. 1,500m (Open): 6. Laura Beghin, 4:41.35; 21. Taylor Nichols, 4:51.28; 27. Emma Owen, 4:53.91; 32. Sophie Jones, 4:56.40; 51. Campbell Faust, 5:05.36; 57. Peyten Woodruff, 5:08.55; 58. Weronika Stanczak, 5:10.01. 5,000m (Invitational): 5. Jamie Zamrin, 16:57.32; 9. Abi Swain, 17:03.26. 5,000m (Open): 1. Isa Swain, 17:43.36; 14. Abby Donde, 18:46.43. 400H: 8. Wendy Hare, 1:04.45. 3,000m Steeplechase (Invitational): 4. Tatum Miller, 10:14.62; 6. Alex Barbour, 10:19.67; 7. Bára Stýblová, 10:21.23. Pole Vault: T-5. Gabrielle Bartlett, 11-05.75 (3.50m). Discus: 22. Ahliah Nordstrom, 115-06 (35.22m). Hammer: 34. Ahliah Nordstrom, 126-02 (38.47m).
 
Men's Results:
200m: 53. Edward Niyongere, 23.63. 1,500m: 9. Cam McChesney, 3:56.17. 1,500m (Open): 19. Aiden Carlson, 4:04.47; 28. Stirling Marshall-Pryde, 4:07.82. 5,000m (Invitational): 14. Abdi Ibrahim, 14:28.37; 15. Dom Morganti, 14:30.01. 5,000m: 12. Alex Solberg, 14:57.85; 27. Jake Schulte, 15:48.38. 3,000m Steeplechase (Invitational): Ben Drew, DNF. Long Jump: 8. Edward Niyongere, 21-03.50 (6.49m). Discus: 26. Kennedy Freeman, 119-04 (36.37m); 33. Jake Cooper, 93-07 (28.52m); 34. Dino Kahaulelio, 89-03 (27.21m).