INDEPENDENCE, Ore. — The question heading into Saturday's George Oja Invitational was how the Portland State cross country program would look after three weeks of training and no meets.
 
The answer? A slew of personal bests, showing the improvements the Vikings have made since the Mike Johnson Classic on Sept. 26.
 
The Vikings set eight new personal bests Saturday between four in the women's 6k and four in the men's 8k. Additionally, two other Viking men's runners bettered their seasonal bests from the Mike Johnson Classic.
 
Freshman Brianna Mazilu led the group showing improvements as she finished as the Viking women's top runner for the third straight meet. Mazilu placed 20th overall in 21:42.5 at the Oak Knoll Golf Course, shaving 14 seconds off the time she ran three weeks ago at the Mike Johnson Classic.
 
Sophomore Sam Sharp followed Mazilu at 30th overall in 21:56.9. That marked a personal best by two-tenths of a second and a seasonal best by 33 seconds for Sharp. Classmate Stina Tagesson followed at 39th in 22:13.1 while running her first 6k as a Viking.
 
Mazilu, Sharp and Tagesson gave the Viking women a clear top three. Libby Fox and Addison Capozzi then rounded out the team score while placing 86th and 89th, respectively, in 22:51.9 and 22:56.1. Capozzi shaved 16 seconds off the personal best she set at the Mike Johnson Classic with her finish.
 
Viola Alessandrini finished 103rd overall in 23:12.3. Emily Schmitke and Hannah Butterfield followed at 113th and 117th overall in 23:26.9 and 23:35.3, respectively. Schmitke's time marked a 45-second improvement over her time three weeks ago at the Mike Johnson Classic.
 
Riley Amarillas (230th, 25:42.1) and Talise Wapsheli (281st, 27:20.6) also ran for the Viking women, who finished eighth out of 29 teams at the meet with 210 team points. The Viking men finished 17th out of 32 teams with 470 team points.
 
Vince Estrada led the Viking men at 57th overall, finishing in 25:00.2 to shave 27 seconds off his time from the Mike Johnson Classic. Landen Sandoval joined him with a personal best of 25:44.7, 33 seconds faster than his time at the Mike Johnson Classic and placing him 100th overall.
 
Luke Gillingham and JD Arthur followed at 140th and 154th overall, respectively, while finishing in 26:05.6 and 26:13.8.
 
Freshman Hayden Aldridge closed out the team score for the Viking men while making his collegiate debut. Aldridge finished 186th overall in 26:31.5, two spots ahead of Aidan Brown who finished in 26:33.4 to set a personal best by 30 seconds.
 
Benjamin Sanchez made his season debut while finishing 228th overall in 26:56.5. Kyle Chen followed at 232nd in 26:59.2, which wasn't a personal best but still 29 seconds faster than his first 8k of the season at the Mike Johnson Classic.
 
Eli Levinsohn and Mika Sarver Huber finished within four spots of each other at 253rd and 257th overall, respectively. Levinsohn finished in 27:14.3 to shave 13 seconds off his personal best. Sarver Huber ran in 27:15.7 to shave close to 30 seconds off his seasonal best.
 
Ian Parks (341st, 29:01.2) and Simon Walsh (388th, 31:17.8) also ran for the Viking men.
 
Saturday's George Oja Invitational closes the regular season for the Portland State cross country program. The Vikings will now head into their championship schedule, starting with the Big Sky Championships on Oct. 30.
 
George Oja Invitational
Oak Knoll Golf Course
Independence, Ore.
Oct. 17, 2026
 
Women's Top Ten Finishers (6k):
1. Alauna Carstens, Evergreen, 20:38.5; 2. Breanna Schmitt, George Fox, 20:53.2; 3. Sara Sanders, Eastern Washington, 20:57.2; 4. Anna Connor, Unattached, 21:09.0; 5. Kyla Potratz, Western Oregon, 21:20.5; 6. Kezlie Thygesen, Whitworth, 21:24.4; 7. Adele Beckstead, Western Oregon, 21:27.4; 8. Abigail Burns, Carleton, 21:29.5; 9. Paige Wiley, Oregon State, 21:29.9; 10. Danica Allen, Portland, 21:30.4.
 
Women's Team Scores (6k):
1. Eastern Washington, 88 points; 2. Carleton, 91 points; 3. Western Oregon, 98 points; 4. George Fox, 107 points; 5. Portland, 118 points; 6. Seattle U, 137 points; 7. Whitworth, 143 points; 8. Portland State, 210 points; 9. Southwestern Oregon CC, 282 points; 10. Spokane CC, 346 points; 11. Corban, 388 points; 12. Evergreen, 394 points; 13. Oregon Tech, 403 points; 14. Puget Sound, 415 points; 15. Treasure Valley (Ore.) CC, 510 points; 16. Lane CC, 515 points; 17. Luther, 519 points; 18. Whitman, 548 points; 19. OSU Running Club, 552 points; 20. Everett (Wash.) CC, 586 points; 21. Pacific Lutheran, 599 points; 22. Saint Martin's, 623 points; 23. Pacific (Ore.), 646 points; 24. Bushnell (Ore.), 658 points; 25. Linfield, 712 points; 26. Umpqua CC, 723 points; 27. Lewis & Clark, 744 points; 28. Willamette, 769 points; 29. Clark (Wash.), 812 points.
 
Portland State Runners (out of 320 finishers):
20. Brianna Mazilu, 21:42.5; 30. Sam Sharp, 21:56.9; 39. Stina Tagesson, 22:13.1; 86. Libby Fox, 22:51.9; 89. Addison Capozzi, 22:56.1; 103. Viola Alessandrini, 23:12.3; 113. Emily Schmitke, 23:26.9; 117. Hannah Butterfield, 23:35.3; 230. Riley Amarillas, 25:42.1; 281. Talise Wapsheli, 27:20.6; Shayda Zarrin, DNF.
 
Men's Top Ten Finishers (8k):
1. Jack Gladfelter, Corban, 23:26.0; 2. Jake Ritter, Unattached, 23:26.6; 3. Monyebodi Kgadi, Unattached, 23:38.5; 4. Matthew Resnik, Western Oregon, 23:39.5; 5. Michel Heinrich, Luther, 23:51.7; 6. Adam Gray, Luther, 23:52.1; 7. Dalton Kaines, Portland, 23:53.0; 8. Cole Stencel, Saint John's (Minn.), 23:55.3; 9. London Haley, Whitworth, 23:55.5; 10. Jacob Hupke, Portland, 23:58.4.
 
Men's Team Scores (8k):
1. Portland, 48 points; 2. Western Oregon, 72 points; 3. George Fox, 156 points; 4. Eastern Washington, 166 points; 5. Seattle U, 173 points; 6. Whitworth, 246 points; 7. Lane CC, 281 points; 8. Lewis & Clark, 299 points; 9. Saint John's (Minn.), 309 points; 10. Luther, 318 points; 11. Willamette, 322 points; 12. Spokane CC, 324 points; 13. Corban, 347 points; 14. Carleton, 359 points; 15. Oregon Tech, 365 points; 16. Puget Sound, 400 points; 17. Portland State, 470 points; 18. Whitman, 470 points; 19. OSU Running Club, 489 points; 20. Evergreen, 512 points; 21. Southwestern Oregon CC, 546 points; 22. Saint Martin's, 568 points; 23. UO Running club, 650 points; 24. Linfield, 711 points; 25. Bushnell (Ore.), 722 points; 26. Everett (Wash.) CC, 734 points; 27. Treasure Valley (Ore.) CC, 840 points; 28. Pacific (Ore.), 850 points; 29. Clark (Wash.), 883 points; 30. Clackamas CC, 900 points; 31. Green River (Wash.) CC, 911 points; 32. Pacific Lutheran, 928 points.
 
Portland State Runners (out of 399 finishers):
57. Vince Estrada, 25:00.2; 100. Landen Sandoval, 25:44.7; 140. Luke Gillingham, 26:05.6; 154. JD Arthur, 26:13.8; 186. Hayden Aldridge, 26:31.5; 188. Aidan Brown, 26:33.4; 228. Benjamin Sanchez, 26:56.5; 232. Kyle Chen, 26:59.2; 253. Eli Levinsohn, 27:14.3; 257. Mika Sarver Huber, 27:15.7; 341. Ian Parks, 29:01.2; 388. Simon Walsh, 31:17.8; Ari Smith, DNF.