PORTLAND, Ore. — After the Portland State track & field program saw 21 athletes debut at the UW Indoor Preview and sent waves to compete at the Portland Indoor One, the Vikings' crew going to this weekend's UW Invitational in Seattle may feel a little lonely.
 
But hey, it might be the making of Sleepless in Seattle 2, except instead of Tom Hanks starring as the lonely widower, it'll be Zach Grams. Grams will be the lone Viking competing Friday while three other Vikings run Saturday.
 
Of course, you don't need a big crew to make some noise in track & field, which is what the Vikings will hope to do in Seattle this weekend.
 
Grams, who took teammate Abdi Ibrahim's place in the initial list of accepted entries, should be running against the best field he'll have seen so far this season. He'll also be racing his first distance longer than a mile so far in 2024, as he plays to his strengths and extends out to a 5k.
 
Grams' outdoor best in the 5k puts him just outside the all-time top 10 at Portland State. He set his best nearly two years ago at the L&C Invite, where he finished in 14:45.46. That would rank Grams fourth all-time in the indoor 5k, should he duplicate it Friday.
 
Grams already raced in Seattle once this season, placing second in his heat in a time of 4:25.76 at the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 13. He followed up with a 1k time of 2:45.05 last week at the Portland Indoor One.
 
After Grams runs the 5k Friday, the middle distances will take center stage at the UW Invitational Saturday. For the Vikings' part, they'll see three athletes compete between the men's and women's 800 meters. Abdinajib Abade and Amir Ahmed will run on the men's side, while Ania Kapustka will represent the Viking women.
 
It'll be the first 800-meter race of 2024 for all three athletes. Abade and Ahmed ran an 800-meter race at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener at the end of the fall cross country season on Dec. 2, 2023. Ahmed posted the faster time of the two that day, finishing in 1:58.91. Abade had the upper hand when the two ran a 600-meter race together two weeks ago at the UW Indoor Preview. Abade finished in 1:23.23 that day while Ahmed finished in 1:24.08. Those finishes moved the pair up to seventh and ninth all-time at the distance at PSU, respectively.
 
Abade followed up with a 1k time of 2:41.93 last week at the Portland Indoor One, narrowly missing another top 10 mark.
 
Kapustka set a top 10 mark her last time out at Dempsey Indoor, as she ran the 600 meters at the UW Indoor Preview. Kapustka finished in 1:45.93, moving her up to ninth all-time at PSU at the time, though she's since been bumped to 10th.
 
No teammates will bump Kapustka or any of the other Vikings down a spot this weekend. They'll be on their own in Seattle. Abade and Ahmed will run in the same section of the men's 800 meters Saturday, but the rest will be racing on their own.
 
But that shouldn't bother the Vikings. Sleepless in Seattle is an all-time classic, after all. So, if you see the Vikings buy a houseboat and call in to Dr. Marcia Fieldstone's radio show, it's just pre-race superstitions that will hopefully set up a strong showing.
 
MEET INFO
Jan. 26-27 – UW Invitational – Seattle, Wash. (Dempsey Indoor)
 
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MEET SCHEDULE
Friday, Jan. 26
Time – Event (PSU entries)
3:55 p.m. – Men's 5,000 Meters (Grams)
 
Saturday, Jan. 27
Time – Event (PSU entries)
10:45 a.m. – Women's 800 Meters (Section 2 of 8 – Kapustka)
11:10 a.m. – Men's 800 Meters (Section 1 of 5 – Abade, Ahmed)