PORTLAND, Ore. — The directive from Portland State track & field head coach Joseph Blue ahead of last weekend's season opener at the Silver & Blue Invitational was clear.
 
"I have no expectations of you guys except for going out and getting better. That's basically what I told them before the meet, and they did that. Even when they were shaky, they were able to bounce back and make adjustments," Blue said.
 
And if last weekend was the baseline, then the prospect of the Vikings getting better from there should excite everyone around the program. The Vikings set six top 10 marks, two each for Isaiah Cadengo, Jack Macdonald and Emma Stolte. The Vikings got five other freshman top 10 marks, while most athletes either set an outright personal best or had their best season opener.
 
The directive remains the same heading into this week's UW Preview, as the Vikings head to Seattle Friday and Saturday.
 
"The big thing when we left the meet last week was us going back to practice and having them get with their coaches to find out what they need to do to get better. Coach [Christian] Carter has been doing that with his sprints and jumps group. Nick [Merillana] has been doing that with his distance group," Blue said.
 
"We expect some good things to happen this week as a result, especially from the distance group. Seattle is their favorite spot [during the indoor season]."
 
Out of the eight school records in the men's and women's indoor 800, mile, 3k and 5k, six were set at the University of Washington's Dempsey Indoor Facility. The rest of the top 10 in each of those events are also filled with times run in Seattle.
 
Stolte figures to have the best chance out of the distance crew heading to this week's meet to set a school record. The redshirt junior came within 0.34 seconds of Katie Camarena's school record in the 800 meters while finishing in a personal-best 2:11.99. She also set a facility record while winning the mile by 20 seconds with her finish in 4:54.25 a day earlier.
 
The strong indoor opener for Stolte came after a fall cross country season in which she tied a program record with five top 10 finishes. That included a ninth-place finish at the Big Sky Championships, making her just the eighth different runner in program history to earn all-conference honors in cross country.
 
"Emma blew us away," Blue said of Stolte's performance in last week's indoor opener. "She dawged the whole meet. She was confident from beginning to the end, and she was very happy with how she did."
 
Stolte will run in the second-fastest of three heats in the 3k at 3:20 p.m. on Saturday. Her personal best in the 3k (9:57.23) came on the same track at last season's UW Invitational. That put her just outside of the top 10 when it happened. Given the way her season started last week, she won't be outside of the top 10 for long.
 
Besides Stolte, a number of other Viking distance runners will open up this weekend. Sonja Jones is entered in the Friday sections of the women's 3k alongside freshman classmates Libby Fox and Sam Sharp. She's also entered in Saturday's 1k with Stolte and Sharp.
 
Freshmen JD Arthur and Ari Smith are both entered in the Friday sections of the men's mile alongside Amir Ahmed. Smith is also entered in Friday's sections of the men's 3k alongside Abdinajib Abade, Luke Gillingham and Farhan Ibrahim.
 
Irina López will join freshman Hannah Butterfield in the Friday sections of the women's mile. Those two are also entered in Saturday's 800 meters.
 
Outside of the distance events, Cadengo and Macdonald will be back in action a week after the freshmen duo set a pair of top 10 marks each. Cadengo set the No. 2 time in the men's 400 meters (48.56) as well as the No. 4 time in the 200 meters (21.91). Macdonald, meanwhile, set the No. 6 time in the 60 meters (6.93) and No. 5 time in the 200 meters (21.95).
 
"I was like, 'okay, we've got some potential,'" Blue said of watching Cadengo and Macdonald last week. "For them to open up at under 22 seconds in the 200 in their first race indoors, that says a lot. I was just super impressed with what they did."
 
They'll both run the 60 meters Saturday morning alongside teammates Dillon Brost, Zach Payne and Aidan Sweeney. Payne set freshman top 10 marks in the 200 and 400 meters last week, and only missed an overall top 10 time in the 200 due to Cadengo and Macdonald pushing others down the list.
 
Cadengo and Macdonald are also entered in the men's 200 meters later in the day Saturday along with Brost and James Timmins. They would both be options for the Vikings in the men's 4x400-meter relay, which will conclude the meet for the Vikings Saturday.
 
Tori Forst and Sienna Rosario both made the finals of the women's 60 meters last week. Rosario did so while setting a personal best with their finish in 7.92 seconds. Forst had the top time out of the two with her finish in 7.67 seconds. That wasn't a personal best, but it was better than her season opener in the 60 meters a year ago.
 
The field events will be a near duplicate of last week. Daniel Coppedge will try to break his own record in the men's weight throw Friday. Edward Niyongere, who like Forst didn't set a personal best last week but still beat his opener from a year ago, is entered in the men's long jump and triple jump Saturday.
 
Freshman Natalie Fisher, meanwhile, will compete in the women's shot put Saturday. She won the event at the Silver & Blue Invitational, improving on every throw before moving into first on her final attempt of the day.
 
"She was coachable. She was adjusting well," Blue said of Fisher. "I told her to use her right side more, she got that. She was worried about reversing but I told her, 'it's going to come when you do it right.' And the next thing you know, boom she wins it. That was a good confidence booster for her."
 
Fisher's attempt-to-attempt improvement mirrors Blue's hope for the program overall. As much as a school record in Seattle this weekend would be welcomed, it's not the goal. That's to get better, which the Vikings will do steadily throughout the season.
 
In the meantime, the Vikings can lean on their teammates for support through the process. That was as encouraging a sign as any on the track for the Vikings last weekend, as the athletes not competing could be seen cheering on their teammates throughout the meet.
 
"One of the things I told them before [last week's] meet was, when we get to the meet, we're not doing any sleeping in team camp or just chilling all day. If you're not competing, you're in the stands cheering on your teammates. And that was evident. We were loud and proud in the stadium. A lot of great team support," Blue said.
 
It's the best way to get better.
 
MEET INFO
Jan. 16-17 – UW Preview – Seattle, Wash. (Dempsey Indoor)
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Live Results | Live Video
 
MEET SCHEDULE
Friday, Jan. 16
Time (PT) – Event (PSU Entries)
1 p.m. – Men's Weight Throw (Flight 1 of 1 – Coppedge)
4 p.m. – Men's 3,000 Meters (Section 2 of 7 – Abade, Gillingham, Ibrahim; Section 3 of 7 – Smith)
5:15 p.m. – Women's 3,000 Meters – (Section 1 of 4 – Fox, Jones; Section 2 of 4 – Sharp)
6:35 p.m. – Men's Mile (Section 2 of 2 – Ahmed, Arthur, Smith)
6:50 p.m. – Women's Mile (Section 1 of 2 – Butterfield, López)
 
Saturday, Jan. 17
Time (PT) – Event (PSU Entries)
9 a.m. – Women's 60-Meter Hurdles – Prelims (Beasley – Heats TBD)
9:20 a.m. – Men's 60-Meter Hurdles – Prelims (Sweeney, Timmins – Heats TBD)
9:40 a.m. – Women's 60 Meters – Prelims (Forst, Jolivette, Medina, Rosario, Wheat – Heats TBD)
10 a.m. – Men's 60 Meters – Prelims (Brost, Cadengo, Macdonald, Payne, Sweeney – Heats TBD)
10:25 a.m. – Women's 60-Meter Hurdles – Final
10:30 a.m. – Men's Triple Jump (Flight 1 of 1 – Niyongere)
10:35 a.m. – Men's 60-Meter Hurdles – Final
10:45 a.m. – Women's 60 Meters – Final
10:50 a.m. – Men's 60 Meters – Final
12:05 p.m. – Women's 400 Meters (Iverson, Peterson – Heats TBD)
12:30 p.m. – Men's Long Jump – Flight 1 (Niyongere)
1 p.m. – Women's Shot Put (Flight 1 of 2 – Fisher)
1:10 p.m. – Women's 800 Meters (Section 1 of 4 – Butterfield, López)
1:25 p.m. – Men's 800 Meters (Section 2 of 5 – Arthur; Section 3 of 5 – Abade; Section 4 of 5 – Ahmed)
1:50 p.m. – Women's 200 Meters (Forst, Iverson, Jolivette, Medina, Peterson, Rosario – Heats TBD)
2:25 p.m. – Men's 200 Meters (Brost, Cadengo, Macdonald, Timmins – Heats TBD)
2:50 p.m. – Women's 1,000 Meters (Section 1 of 3 – Jones, Sharp)
3:20 p.m. – Women's 3,000 Meters (Section 2 of 3 – Stolte)
4:30 p.m. – Men's 4x400-Meter Relay (Portland State 'A' – Heats TBD)