POCATELLO, Idaho — The middle phoneme of Emma Stolte's first name is M. And she picked up a Big Q Friday as the Vikings opened the Big Sky Indoor Championships at Idaho State's ICCU Dome.
 
** Insert your favorite James Bond theme music here **
 
Stolte executed as cool as the fictional British spy, qualifying automatically out of the fastest three qualifying heats in the women's 800 meters to make Saturday's final. She'll now have a chance to score for the Vikings in the finals of the 800 and mile on the final day of the meet.
 
Stolte was third through most of the race behind Northern Arizona's Hayley Burns and Odessa Zentz. Burns broke into the lead late to take the heat in 2:08.75. Zentz, who had led much of the race, started to fade just a bit, which allowed Stolte to pass her at the line, making her one of the two auto qualifiers in 2:09.65. Zentz still qualified on time in 2:09.67.
 
Stolte's time represents the second fastest indoor 800-meter time ever at Portland State. Second only to herself. She set the school record at 2:08.51 with her finish at the Inland Northwest Invitational on Jan. 31.
 
The Vikings were unlucky to not get another couple of qualifiers out of Friday's events. The unluckiest may have been Aidan Sweeney in the men's 60-meter hurdles. Sweeney, a men's team co-captain, missed out on the eighth and final qualifying spot by one-thousandth of a second.
 
Sweeney can't be too bitter, though, as he shaved 0.15 seconds off his personal best while finishing in 8.38 seconds. That moved Sweeney up to seventh all-time in the 60-meter hurdles at Portland State. He's the first new entrant into the top 10 since Jordan Gloden in 2022.
 
Daniel Coppedge was also unlucky to not make the final of the men's weight throw. He won the opening flight while setting a new school record with his third-attempt throw of 59-06.25 (18.14m). It was Coppedge's second time rewriting his own record in the weight throw this season. He first re-set the record at the Inland Northwest Invitational on Jan. 31 but bettered that mark by 19 inches Friday. Coppedge has added more than three and a half feet to the record he came into the season with between both improvements.
 
It wasn't enough to make the final, though, as the second flight pushed Coppedge to 10th – one spot out of the top nine qualifying spots.
 
The Vikings opened their scoring at the meet in the final event of the day Friday. Abdinajib Abade, Zach Payne, JD Arthur and Ari Smith combined as the men's distance medley relay placed seventh in 10:19.34. The foursome, which featured three freshmen, set the No. 10 mark all-time with their finish.
 
Otherwise, the Vikings had a number of athletes like Sweeney and Coppedge who did all they could but didn't advance out of Friday's prelims. The Vikings had 18 athletes out of 29 entries in individual events either set or tie their personal bests. Not much more you can do than that.
 
Six of seven entries in the men's 60 and 200 meters set or tied their personal bests. Freshman Jack Macdonald led that group, tying his personal best of 6.93 seconds in the 60 meters while shaving close to two-tenths of a second off his 200-meter best with his finish in 21.72 seconds. Macdonald's 200-meter time moved him up to third all-time in the overall top 10, as well as second in the freshman top 10.
 
Dillon Brost also set personal bests in both events, finishing in 7.13 seconds in the 60 meters and 22.45 seconds in the 200 meters. Sweeney doubled back from the hurdles to shave a tenth of a second off his personal best in the open 60 meters with his finish in 7.16 seconds.
 
The Viking women also nearly swept their personal bests in the 60 and 200 meters. They had five of six athletes better or tie their previous marks. Sienna Rosario did so in both events, finishing in 7.78 seconds in the 60 meters and then 25.59 seconds in the 200 meters. Savannah Beasley shaved more than six-tenths of a second off her personal best in the 200 meters while leading the Vikings with her finish in 25.57 seconds.
 
Beasley also set a personal best in the 60-meter hurdles with her finish in 9.17 seconds. That was 12-hundredths of a second better than the mark she set two weeks ago at the Husky Classic.
 
Zach Payne tied his personal best of 22.33 seconds in the 200 meters while also shaving four-tenths of a second off his indoor best in the 400 meters. Payne finished the 400 in 49.40 seconds, giving him the new No. 10 mark all-time at Portland State.
 
The rest of the personal bests came from the field. Jackson Mathers added more than 14 inches to his overall best in the men's long jump while soaring to 21-07.25 (6.58m) on his first attempt of the day. Ocean Rideout and Akanesi Latu-Alves both set personal bests on the women's side of the long jump. Rideout, who also tied her personal best of 7.93 seconds in the 60 meters, added three inches to the mark she set two weeks ago while jumping 17-09.75 (5.43m). Latu-Alves, meanwhile, set a personal best by 2.5 inches with her jump of 17-00.50 (5.19m) Friday.
 
Avonlea Edwards and Natalie Fisher posted marks of 44-10.75 (13.68m) and 44-05.25 (13.54m), respectively, in the women's weight throw. That wasn't a best for Edwards, but Fisher added three and a half feet to the mark she set just a week ago at the GFU Indoor #2. Fisher now ranks third in the freshman top 10 in the weight throw, right behind Edwards.
 
Edwards and Fisher will be back in action Saturday for the women's shot put.
 
Who else will be back? Stolte, Emma Stolte.
 
Big Sky Indoor Championships
ICCU Dome
Pocatello, Idaho
Feb. 27, 2026
 
Women's Results:
60m (Prelims): 19. Sienna Rosario, 7.78; 22. Ocean Rideout, 7.93. 200m (Prelims): 25. Savannah Beasley, 25.57; 27. Sienna Rosario, 25.59; 29. Ocean Rideout, 26.83. 400m (Prelims: 17. Ashley Peterson, 58.38. 800m (Prelims): 5. Emma Stolte, 2:09.65; 17. Addison Capozzi, 2:20.20; 18. Irina López, 2:21.86; 19. Hannah Butterfield, 2:25.02. 60H (Prelims): 20. Savannah Beasley, 9.17. Distance Medley Relay: 10. Portland State 'A' (Nichols, Peterson, Capozzi, López), 12:58.41. Long Jump: 19. Ocean Rideout, 17-09.75 (5.43m); 21. Akanesi Latu-Alves, 17-00.50 (5.19m). Weight Throw: 24. Avonlea Edwards, 44-10.75 (13.68m); 25. Natalie Fisher, 44-05.25 (13.54m).
 
Men's Results:
60m (Prelims): 19. Jack Macdonald, 6.93; 25. Dillon Brost, 7.13; 27. Aidan Sweeney, 7.16. 200m (Prelims): 13. Jack Macdonald, 21.72; 20. Isaiah Cadengo, 22.09; 25. Zach Payne, 22.33; 27. Dillon Brost, 22.45. 400m (Prelims): 13. Isaiah Cadengo, 48.67; 22. Zach Payne, 49.40. 800m (Prelims): 16. Abdinajib Abade, 1:56.91; 17. Amir Ahmed, 2:02.19. 60H (Prelims): 9. Aidan Sweeney, 8.38. Distance Medley Relay: 7. Portland State 'A' (Abade, Payne, Arthur, Smith), 10:19.34. Long Jump: 18. Jackson Mathers, 21-07.25 (6.58m). Weight Throw: 10. Daniel Coppedge, 59-06.25 (18.14m).