RESULTS

PORTLAND, Ore. — Somebody get the Portland State track & field athletes a Big Gulp. They've earned it after the Vikings won seven of 11 events – get the Big Gulp reference, now? – Sunday at the Portland Indoor Three.
 
The Vikings picked up wins in the women's 800 meters (Ania Kapustka), women's mile (Laura Beghin), women's 4x400-meter relay, men's 200 meters (Dieumerci Migani), men's 800 meters (Amir Ahmed), men's mile (Abdi Ibrahim) and men's shot put (Noah Meucci). Beghin and Kapsutka contributed to the women's team's 4x400-meter relay, too, as they each ran a leg alongside Ashley Peterson and Campbell Faust.
 
Beghin's win in the women's mile may have been the most impressive. It was the first event of the day at the Chiles Center, and Beghin beat the No. 2 finisher by close to two seconds while finishing close to 10 seconds faster than the No. 3 finisher.
 
Beghin's winning time of 5:01.64 marked a six-second improvement over her previous best in the mile, which she set at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener back in December. Additionally, Beghin's time nearly put her in the all-time top 10 for the indoor mile, as it was less than half a second behind the current No. 10 time of 5:01.17 that Kamila Bocian set in 2007.
 
Abdi Ibrahim followed Beghin's win with one of his own on the men's side of the mile. Like Beghin, Ibrahim won by a wide margin, beating the No. 2 finisher by over three seconds, and finishing just under six seconds faster than the No. 3 finisher. Ibrahim's winning time of 4:23.90 also marked a slight improvement over his time from two weeks ago at the Portland Indoor Two, which was a personal best.
 
The Vikings also swept the men's and women's 800 meters Sunday. Kapustka set up the sweep with a win in 2:27.09 on the women's side. Amir Ahmed then completed the sweep on the men's side, finishing in 1:58.66 to beat the No. 2 finisher by a quarter of a second.
 
After the mile and 800-meter sweeps, Dieumerci Migani picked up a win in the men's 200 meters while leading a bevy of personal bests for the Vikings in the event. Migani won in 23.29 seconds, nearly two full seconds faster than his 200-meter time two weeks ago at the Portland Indoor Two.
 
Migani was one of five Vikings to set a new personal best in the men's 200 meters, while one of the other two was making his 200-meter debut. Besides Migani, GG Nitunga shaved a quarter of a second off his 200-meter best while finishing fourth overall in 23.80 seconds. Eman Kargbo followed in 23.83 seconds to shave eight-hundredths of a second off his season-opening time at the UW Indoor Preview.
 
Aleks Briach and Hunter Leeder then added two more personal bests – both by one-hundredth of a second – while finishing ninth and 10th in 24.28 and 24.56 seconds, respectively.
 
The Vikings also got three new personal bests and four more debuts out of the women's 200 meters, which preceded the men's event on the track. Raniyah Burton led the Viking women in the 200, finishing more than a second faster than her time two weeks ago at the Portland Indoor Two in 28.13 seconds. Kiara Van Deusen (17th, 30.09 seconds) and Carley Strand (21st, 31.08 seconds) also set personal bests for the Viking women, while Riley Larsen (9th, 28.41 seconds), Kalo Iongi (13th, 28.78 seconds), Finley Crabtree (24th, 31.93 seconds) and Cameron Dixon (25th, 32.42 seconds) – all dual-sport athletes as members of the Portland State women's soccer team along with Burton and Van Deusen – made their debuts on the track.
 
The Viking women added a sixth win for the Vikings in the 4x400-meter relay, which followed the 200-meter race on the track. Peterson ran the opening leg for the Vikings, while Kapustka and Faust followed before Beghin brought it home with the anchor leg. The foursome won in 4:12.64, 11 seconds faster than their nearest competitors. Sunday's relay time also marked a six-second improvement over the Vikings' opening time in the event this season, which came four weeks ago at the Portland Indoor One.
 
The Viking men, meanwhile, made their relay debuts Sunday across two different teams. The foursome of Abdinajib Abade, Ahmed, Tom Thake and Ian Parks finished second in the 4x400 in 3:48.95, just ahead of teammates Leeder, Braich, Nitunga and Kargbo, who finished third in 3:51.64.
 
The final event win for the Vikings came from Meucci, who led a group of three Vikings competing amongst themselves in the men's shot put. Meucci won with a best throw of 43-11.25 (13.39m). The mark, which came on Meucci's first attempt of the competition, wasn't a personal best, but it was only 2.75 inches behind the mark he set two weeks ago at the Portland Indoor Two.
 
Behind Meucci, Karch Kipp finished second with a mark of 40-09.00 (12.42m). That was close to two feet farther than Kipp thew yesterday, when he made his Viking debut at the George Fox Indoor Meet #2.
 
Outside of the event winners, the Vikings also picked up two more personal bests in the women's 400 meters between Peterson and Ahmeah Brown. Peterson shaved close to two seconds off the 400-meter best she set two weeks earlier at the Portland Indoor Two, finishing fourth overall in 1:00.75 Sunday. Brown, meanwhile, knocked 16-hundredths of a second off her personal best, which she also set two weeks ago while finishing sixth in 1:02.53.
 
The seven event wins come at a perfect time for the Vikings, as they head into conference week next week with the Big Sky Indoor Championships scheduled for Feb. 22-24 in Spokane, Wash.
 
There's no better confidence booster than to win. And to do it in your final race/competition before conference like the Vikings did seven times Sunday, definitely earns you a Big Gulp.
 
Portland Indoor Three
Chiles Center
Portland, Ore.
Feb. 18, 2024
 
Women's Results:
200m: 8. Raniyah Burton, 28.13; 9. Riley Larsen, 28.41; 13. Kalo Iongi, 28.78; 17. Kiara Van Deusen, 30.09; 19. Alison Calvin-Stupfel, 30.29; 21. Carley Strand, 31.08; 24. Finley Crabtree, 31.93; 25. Cameron Dixon, 32.42. 400m: 4. Ashley Peterson, 1:00.75; 6. Ahmeah Brown, 1:02.53. 800m: 1. Ania Kapustka, 2:27.09; 2. Sienna Higinbotham, 2:41.82. Mile: 1. Laura Beghin, 5:01.64; 13. Campbell Faust, 5:35.47. 4x400m Relay: 1. Portland State 'A' (Peterson, Kapustka, Faust, Beghin), 4:12.64.
 
Men's Results:
200m: 1. Dieumerci Migani, 23.29; 4. GG Nitunga, 23.80; 5. Eman Kargbo, 23.83; 7. Khari Dawson, 24.14; 8. Travis West, 24.18; 9. Aleks Braich, 24.28; 10. Hunter Leeder, 24.56. 400m: 9. Zach Grams, 1:07.66. 800m: 1. Amir Ahmed, 1:58.66; 10. Lyness Ota, 2:13.78. Mile: 1. Abdi Ibrahim, 4:23.90; 9. Ian Parks, 4:43.86. 4x400m Relay: 2. Portland State 'A' (Abade, Ahmed, Thake, Parks), 3:48.95; 3. Portland State 'B' (Leeder, Braich, Nitunga, Kargbo), 3:51.64. Shot Put: 1. Noah Meucci, 43-11.25 (13.39m); 2. Karch Kipp, 40-09.00 (12.42m); 3. Mikey LaGris, 30-00.25 (9.15m).