RESULTS

AZUSA, Calif. — Vikings, can I have an Azuga? Azuga! Azuga! Azuga!
 
Okay, Azuga isn't quite Azusa, Calif., site of this weekend's Bryan Clay Invitational. But the Portland State track & field athletes competing there certainly deserved some Azugas…  from The Little Rascals and the rest of us.
 
Laura Beghin deserves the biggest Azuga, perhaps, after completing a clean sweep of her personal bests in 2024. Having set personal bests in five of the six events in which she's competed between the indoor and outdoor track & field seasons coming into the weekend, Beghin completed her set with a new personal best in the women's 800 meters Friday. Beghin finished second in her heat in 2:14.05, setting an overall best in the 800 meters by close to two seconds and an outdoor best by more than four seconds.
 
Beghin returned to the track for the women's 1,500 meters after 10 p.m. on Saturday. She shook off the late hour by posting her second-best 1,500-meter time of the season, finishing in 4:34.85.
 
Opposite Beghin in the men's 800 meters, Abdinajib Abade finished in 1:56.09, close to five and a half seconds faster than his time two weeks ago at the Pacific Open on March 30. It wasn't quite an overall personal best due to his time of 1:55.13 at the 2021 Don Kirby Tailwind Open when he was competing for Adams State, but it was better than his indoor best of 1:56.44 that he set at the UW Invitational on Jan. 27 earlier this year.
 
The rest of the Vikings set a bevy of second-best marks for themselves in their respective events. Dieumerci Migani set his second-best marks of the season in both the men's long jump and triple jump Saturday. Migani jumped 22-09.75 (6.95m) in the long jump, placing third in his flight, while coming back later in the day to jump 46-03.50 (14.11m) in the triple jump, where he placed fifth in his flight.
 
Alison Calvin-Stupfel placed third in her flight of the women's high jump while essentially matching her personal best in the event. Calvin-Stupfel topped out at 5-04.50 (1.64m), just a half-inch below her best mark of the season, which she set three weeks ago at the Oregon Preview. Calvin-Stupfel opened at 1.54 meters, clearing on her second attempt, then went over on her first attempts at 1.59 and 1.64 meters. She missed on all three attempts at 1.69 meters, a height that would have moved her up to seventh all-time at Portland State.
 
Noah Meucci also set his second-best mark in the men's shot put, finishing with a best throw of 41-07.25 (12.68m).
 
Bryan Clay Invitational
Cougar Stadium
Azusa, Calif.
April 12-13, 2024
 
Women's Results:
800m: 109. Laura Beghin, 2:14.05. 1,500m (Open B): 34. Laura Beghin, 4:34.85. High Jump (Open C): 3. Alison Calvin-Stupfel, 5-04.50 (1.64m).
 
Men's Results:
800m: 164. Abdinajib Abade, 1:56.09. 1,500m: 200. Abdinajib Abade, 4:15.37. Long Jump: 32. Dieumerci Migani, 22-09.75 (6.95m). Triple Jump: 20. Dieumerci Migani, 46-03.50 (14.11m). Shot Put: 32. Noah Meucci, 41-07.25 (12.68m).
 

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RESULTS

Portland, Ore. — Any Portlander who has chanted "Beat L.A." at a Portland Trail Blazers game knows one thing to be true. Whatever you can do in L.A., you can do just as well, if not better, in Portland.
 
That was the feeling among the Portland State track & field athletes who didn't join their teammates down in the L.A. area this weekend. They competed closer to home Saturday at the L&C Larry Byerly Invitational, and did so with great success. Out of 26 marks Saturday, the Vikings set new personal or seasonal bests in 14 of them. More than half.
 
Eight of those 14 improvements at Lewis & Clark's Eldon Fix Track were personal bests. Out of those, Ian Parks was the lone Viking to claim two new personal bests Saturday, as he posted improvements in the men's 800 and 1,500 meters. Parks opened with a half-second improvement in the 1,500 meters, finishing in 4:13.02. Teammate Tom Thake joined Parks with a four-second seasonal best with his finish in 4:18.70.
 
Parks added a second personal best later in the day with an improvement of three-tenths of a second in the 800 meters. Parks, who finished in 2:04.73, was one of three Vikings to set personal bests in the 800 meters. Besides Parks, Amir Ahmed led the Vikings' group in the 800 with a standout mark of 1:55.16. That shaved more than two and a half seconds off his previous best, which he set just two weeks earlier at the Pacific Open. Additionally, Ahmed's time represented the best 800-meter time by a Viking freshman since Chase Lovercheck set the freshman record at 1:50.92 in 2019.
 
Besides Ahmed and Parks Lyness Ota also set a personal best in the men's 800 meters, finishing in 2:14.35 to better his mark by close to 1.25 seconds. Thake, meanwhile, added a seasonal best to the others' personal bests with his finish in 2:09.42.
 
Ahmed, Parks, Thake and Eman Kargbo closed out the day by running the Viking men's first 4x400-meter relay of the season, finishing in 3:37.72.
 
The women's side of the 800 meters featured a personal best and a collegiate best for Ahmeah Brown and Ania Kapustka. Brown finished fourth overall in 2:19.54, lowering her previous best by just under seven-tenths of a second. Kapustka, meanwhile, finished in 2:20.05, shaving more than 2.25 seconds off her collegiate best, which she set at the Oregon Preview three weeks earlier.
 
No Viking set a personal best quite like Ashley Peterson, however. She did so while breaking a time barrier in the women's 400 meters. In her last three 400-meter races, Peterson had inched closer and closer to dipping under 60 seconds for the first time in her career. Saturday, she finally cracked it, finishing third overall in 59.34 seconds. Campbell Faust joined Peterson while running her first 400-meter race as a Viking, finishing in 1:02.92.
 
Peterson, Faust, Brown and Kapustka all returned for the women's 4x400-meter relay at the end of the day, and shaved more than three and a half seconds off the team's seasonal best with a third-place finish in 4:04.20.
 
Dyllan Newville set the first personal best of the day for the Vikings, as she shaved more than two seconds off her previous best in the women's 1,500 meters while finishing in 5:14.68. Taylor Nichols posted the top time for the Viking women in the 1,500 meters, finishing in 4:58.04, putting her just off her seasonal best of 4:57.86.
 
Kargbo provided the narrowest personal best of the day for the Viking men, finishing the 100 meters in 11.32 seconds. That bettered his previous best by one-hundredth of a second, while followed up with his second-best mark of the season in the 200 meters with his time of 22.93 seconds.
 
The lone victory for the Vikings Saturday came from Wendy Hare in the women's 400-meter hurdles. She won the event by close to a second and a half while setting a seasonal best by more than 1.75 seconds with her finish in 1:04.10. That's Hare's second-best time ever in the 400 hurdles, trailing only the personal best she set of 1:02.58 at the Linfield Open last May.
 
Hare added a second seasonal best with a finish in 27.78 seconds in the women's 200 meters later in the day. Peterson posted the faster 200-meter time between the two, finishing in 27.15 seconds, but missed out on a personal best by two-tenths of a second.
 
A noteworthy breakthrough Saturday also came from Carley Strand in the women's pole vault. Strand broke a string of six straight no-heights in the event (one indoor, five outdoor) with a clearance at 9-05.25 (2.88m). Strand came up clutch with a third-attempt clearance at the bar, instantly moving her up to fourth all-time in the outdoor women's pole vault at Portland State.
 
The breakthrough gives Strand and rest of the Vikings some confidence heading into a week off from competition next weekend. The Vikings will make their return at the OSU High Performance Meet, April 26-27, in Corvallis, Ore.
 
L&C Larry Byerly Invitational
Eldon Fix Track
Portland, Ore.
April 13, 2024
 
Women's Results:
200m: 17. Ashley Peterson, 27.15; 32. Wendy Hare, 27.78. 400m: 3. Ashley Peterson, 59.34; 12. Campbell Faust, 1:02.92. 800m: 4. Ahmeah Brown, 2:19.54; 7. Ania Kapustka, 2:20.05; 12. Taylor Nichols, 2:24.97. 1,500m: 21. Taylor Nichols, 4:58.04; 34. Dyllan Newville, 5:14.68. 400H: 1. Wendy Hare, 1:04.10. 4x400m Relay: 3. Portland State 'A' (Faust, Brown, Kapustka, Peterson), 4:04.20. Pole Vault: 16. Carley Strand, 9-05.25 (2.88m).
 
Men's Results:
100m: 26. Eman Kargbo, 11.32; 39. GG Nitunga, 11.55; Khari Dawson, DNF. 200m: 18. Eman Kargbo, 22.93; 46. GG Nitunga, 23.94. 800m: 6. Amir Ahmed, 1:55.16; 40. Ian Parks, 2:04.73; 51. Tom Thake, 2:09.42; 62. Lyness Ota, 2:14.35. 1,500m: 41. Ian Parks, 4:13.02; 53. Tom Thake, 4:18.70. 5,000m: 32. Lyness Ota, 17:16.64. 4x400m Relay: 8. Portland State 'A' (Kargbo, Ahmed, Thake, Parks), 3:37.72. Shot Put: 36. Mikey LaGris, 27-08.75 (8.45m); Karch Kipp, ND. Discus: 19. Mikey LaGris, 93-07.00 (28.52m); Karch Kipp, ND.