RESULTS

MCMINNVILLE, Ore. — Wind is a funny thing in track & field. What's a hindrance in some events helps others. Such was the case for the Portland State track & field program Saturday amid wet and windy conditions at the Jenn Boyman Memorial Invitational out at Linfield University's Maxwell Field.
 
Noah Meucci benefited from the wind while competing in the men's hammer. He added nearly six feet to his seasonal best while placing third overall with a best throw of 154-07 (47.12m) Saturday. Meucci set what would have been a seasonal best on his fifth attempt of the hammer, when he threw 153-07 (46.81m), then added a foot to that on his sixth attempt.

Meucci has now improved his mark in the hammer at four straight meets to open the 2024 outdoor season. Saturday's improvement moved Meucci up to sixth all-time in the men's hammer at Portland State, after coming into the day ranked eighth all-time.
 
Fellow throwers Mikey LaGris and Karch Kipp also benefited from the wind. LaGris led the pair in the men's discus with a mark of 97-06 (29.72m), which was his second-best mark of the season. Kipp, meanwhile, was competing in his first discus event of the season and threw 94-02 (28.70m). That was within four feet of his personal best of 97-11 (29.94m) from his high school career.
 
The pair doubled back in the men's shot put with Kipp throwing 34-11.75 (10.66m) and LaGris 30-00.25 (9.15m). LaGris added close to 10 inches to his seasonal best with his mark in the shot put.  
 
The wind wasn't such a blessing for the Vikings competing on the track. The Vikings' 100-meter crew dealt with a headwind ranging from 3.4 to 4.7 meters-per-second, for instance. That resulted in slower times than the Vikings would have produced under normal conditions.
 
Even still, Dyllan Newville carved out a good time for herself in the women's 1,500 meters. She finished in 5:18.28 to set a new seasonal best by more than 19 seconds. Teammate Taylor Nichols finished ahead of Newville at fourth in 5:01.19, giving Nichols her second-best mark of the season in the 1,500 meters.
 
Ian Parks narrowly missed his personal best in the men's 800 meters, finishing in 2:05.51. That was less than half a second off his personal best of 2:05.06, which he set on the same track five weeks earlier at the Erik Anderson Memorial Icebreaker.
 
Saturday's group was a small one for the Vikings with four women and nine men competing. More Vikings will be in action next weekend when the program chases qualifying marks for the NCAA West Prelims. The Vikings will chase those marks across three different meets between the Bryan Clay Invitational, April 11-13 in Azusa, Calif., Beach Invitational, April 12-13 in Long Beach, Calif., and the Larry Byerly L&C Invite, April 13 in Portland.
 
Jenn Boyman Memorial Invitational
Maxwell Field
McMinnville, Ore.
April 6, 2024
 
Women's Results:
800m: 8. Campbell Faust, 2:34.38. 1,500m: 4. Taylor Nichols, 5:01.19; 12. Dyllan Newville, 5:18.28. Pole Vault: Carley Strand, NH.
 
Men's Results:
100m: 19. Khari Dawson, 12.06; 28. GG Nitunga, 12.20; 31. Eman Kargbo, 12.28. 800m: 14. Ian Parks, 2:05.51; 23. Tom Thake, 2:13.49; 26. Lyness Ota, 2:18.83. 1,500m: 23. Lyness Ota, 4:43.28. Shot Put: 17. Karch Kipp, 34-11.75 (10.66m); 22. Mikey LaGris, 30-00.25 (9.15m). Discus: 18. Mikey LaGris, 97-06 (29.72m); 19. Karch Kipp, 94-02 (28.70m). Hammer: 3. Noah Meucci, 154-07 (47.12m).