RESULTS

WALNUT, Calif. — Saturday's On Track Fest marked the biggest stage Jordan MacIntosh has ever raced as a Viking. That is, for now at least. A bigger meet could come in the next several weeks as MacIntosh and the Vikings enter the postseason.
 
For the moment, though, the stage seemed plenty big at the On Track Fest as MacIntosh went up against two-time U.S. Olympian Hillary Bor and 2020 U.S. Olympian Benard Keter. The field also included Jean-Simon Desgagnés and George Beamish, who represented Canada and New Zealand, respectively, at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene. Desgagnés was one of the three athletes to finish ahead of MacIntosh at last summer's Bell Canadian Track & Field Championships, where MacIntosh placed fourth overall.
 
They were all out-gunned by BYU's Kenneth Rooks in the end, however, as the collegiate athlete finished three seconds ahead of Beamish to win in 8:17.62.
 
MacIntosh finished 16th overall in 8:43.10. His time was in line with his other showings this season – 8:39.01 at the Stanford Invitational, 8:41.38 at the Payton Jordan Invitational – but it was the experience of racing side-by-side with such a talented field that head coach David Hepburn hopes will pay dividends for MacIntosh in the postseason.
 
That postseason journey begins next week as the Vikings head to the Big Sky Outdoor Championships in Greeley, Colo. After that come the NCAA West Prelims from May 24-27, which MacIntosh is a lock to make, having entered the weekend eighth in the NCAA west region in the steeplechase.
 
Race well at the NCAA West Prelims, and MacIntosh could see a bigger stage than he saw Saturday with the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas, from June 7-10. The lessons he learned Saturday should help him get there.
 
On Track Fest
Hilmer Lodge Stadium
Walnut, Calif.
May 6, 2023
 
Men's Results:
3,000m Steeplechase: 16. Jordan MacIntosh, 8:43.10.
 

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RESULTS

PORTLAND, Ore. — Youth movement. Out of three Vikings in the women's 1,500 meters Saturday at the Portland Twilight, it was the freshman – Taylor Nichols – who led the way behind a new personal best.
 
Nichols placed second in her heat, passing three runners over the final 400 meters while finishing in 4:47.60. That's a second better than her previous best, which she set three weeks earlier at the Larry Byerly L&C Invite. Nichols passed teammate Sophie Jones over the final 400 meters, as Jones placed fifth in her heat in a time of 4:50.63. That time marked Jones' second-best performance this season, behind only the personal best of 4:47.69 she set at the same L&C meet Nichols competed at three weeks ago.
 
Campbell Faust also set her personal best at that previous meet and nearly matched it Saturday. Running in an earlier heat than Nichols and Jones, Faust finished just three-tenths of a second off her earlier time while crossing the line third in her heat in 5:02.59.
 
Portland Twilight
Eldon Fix Track
Portland, Ore.
May 6, 2023
 
Women's Results:
1,500m: 23. Taylor Nichols, 4:47.60; 27. Sophie Jones, 4:50.63; 35. Campbell Faust, 5:02.59.
 

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RESULTS

MCMINNVILLE, Ore. — Wendy Hare won the 400-meter hurdles while Edward Niyongere competed across three different meets to lead a small group of Vikings Saturday at the Linfield Open.
 
Hare won in only her second attempt at the 400-meter hurdles. Her first attempt came just last week at the OSU High Performance Meet, where she finished in 1:04.45. Saturday, she shaved closed to two minutes off that time while finishing in 1:02.58.
 
Hare's time put her just on the outside of the all-time top 10 in the 400-meter hurdles at Portland State. The current No. 10 time – 1:02.57 by Alyssa Rife in 2010 – is just one-hundredth of a second ahead of Hare's finish Saturday.
 
Niyongere, meanwhile, had the busiest day of any Viking, competing in the 100 meters, long jump and high jump. His best event of the day came in the long jump where he set a new personal best for the second straight week. Niyongere jumped 22-01.00 (6.73m) on his sixth and final attempt of the day, putting him nine and a half inches past his mark last week at the OSU High Performance Meet. Niyongere's mark last week was a two-foot improvement over his high school best, meaning he's now improved his mark in the long jump by close to three feet over the past two weeks.
 
Additionally, Saturday's high jump marked Niyongere's first collegiate high jump competition in just his third meet as a Viking. Niyongere cleared on his first attempts at 5-8 and 5-10, before missing on all three attempts at 6-0. He then closed the day in the 100 meters where he finished in 11.84 seconds.
 
Portland State football players Jake Cooper and Dino Kahaulelio were the only other Vikings competing Saturday, as they threw the discus. Cooper, who competed in his first meet for the Viking track & field team last week, improved his collegiate best in the discus by more than six feet with a throw of 99-08 (30.38m). Kahaulelio set his best at 89-03 (27.21m) last week, and was close to the mark again Saturday with a throw of 88-09 (27.07m).
 
Linfield Open
Maxwell Field
McMinnville, Ore.
May 6, 2023
 
Women's Results:
400H: 1. Wendy Hare, 1:02.58.
 
Men's Results:
100m: 30. Edward Niyongere, 11.84. High Jump: 5. Edward Niyongere, 5-10.00 (1.78m). Long Jump: 4. Edward Niyongere, 22-01.00 (6.73m). Discus: 23. Jake Cooper, 99-08 (30.38m); 29. Dino Kahaulelio, 88-09 (27.07m).