PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State track & field program made the most of the last day of January, setting five school records at the Inland Northwest Invitational last Saturday. One could say it was a super day. Fitting, as the Vikings open February with the Portland Indoor 2 on Super Sunday at the Chiles Center.
 
The record-breaking end to the first month of the season was exactly what head coach Joseph Blue said he wanted to see heading into the home stretch of the indoor season.
 
"I wanted to see how they competed. How well they represented themselves and the school, and I think across the board they did that. A lot of athletes went out and either got a PR or broke a record or just did well for themselves," Blue said of last week's meet.
 
"It was a good direction to see the team heading towards. As coaches and as a team, we were all happy with what took place."
 
How could they not be? The five school records were the most in a single day in recent memory for those around the program.
 
It started with the women's 4x200-meter relay, which opened the day with a time of 1:42.19. That was a bit of a cheat as the Vikings hadn't run a 4x200-meter relay indoors before, so it was guaranteed to be a record, but the Vikings still sealed it with an overall win in the event.
 
Sienna Rosario and Jack Macdonald followed with records in the women's and men's 300 meters, finishing in 40.24 and 34.94 seconds, respectively.
 
Emma Stolte then smashed the school record in the women's 800 meters that two-time NCAA All-American Katie Camarena set in 2022. Stolte shaved three seconds off Camarena's old record with her finish in 2:08.51.
 
Daniel Coppedge capped the day with a betterment of his own school record in the weight throw, adding nearly two feet to his old mark with a throw of 57-11.00 (17.65m).
 
Outside of the record setters, a number of other Vikings set personal bests or top 10 marks as the Vikings work towards peaking in time for the Big Sky Indoor Championships, Feb. 26-28.
 
"People are getting more established in their events, so we know a little bit better how we want to attack conference from an event basis," Blue said.
 
This week, the Vikings will bring a smaller crew to the Chiles Center. No field events will take place, while the only track events will be men's and women's sections of the 300, 600, 800, mile and 4x400-meter relay. It'll be a rolling schedule starting at 10 a.m. Sunday, and with the Vikings not entered in the relay, their portion of the meet should take less than 90 minutes.
 
"It's to give other people opportunities to continue to grow in what they've been working on. We need people to show up and run well when their name is called," Blue said of this week's meet.
 
The Vikings went into the Portland Indoor 1 on Jan. 25 with a similar mindset. Zach Payne and Irina López swept the 600 meters for the Vikings at that meet. Payne's win came with the No. 9 mark all-time in the event.
 
López will return to the 600 Sunday along with Irene Montoliu Tio, who set the school record in the event with a time of 1:33.75 last season. Montoliu Tio has been working her way back from injury since then, so Blue didn't put any expectations on her, but her return to the track is a step in the right direction.
 
Stolte – fresh off her school record in the 800 – is also entered in the 600 meters. If she runs Sunday, then she could take a crack at a second school record in as many weeks.
 
Rosario could also better her record in the 300 meters. She's entered in the first heat of the event along with Ashley Peterson, who ran the anchor leg of the 4x200-meter relay last Saturday and set the No. 4 time in the 300 meters.
 
The nature of the track at the Chiles Center – long turns and shorter straightaways – could make it difficult to match last week's success.
 
But who's to say? The faster the Vikings run Sunday, the faster they can get home to watch the Super Bowl. Perhaps that'll be incentive enough.
 
MEET INFO
Feb. 8 – Portland Indoor 2 – Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center)
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Live Results
 
MEET SCHEDULE
Sunday, Feb. 8
Rolling Schedule starting at 10 a.m.
Women's 300 Meters (Heat 1 of 9 – Peterson, Rosario; Heat 2 of 9 – Wheat; Heat 4 of 9 – Rideout; Heat 6 of 9 – Butterfield, Latu-Alves; Heat 7 of 9 – Abdel Halim, Medina; Heat 8 of 9 – Beasley)
Men's 300 Meters (Heat 2 of 4 – Bakkum; Heat 3 of 4 – Jones, Schall; Heat 4 of 4 – Parrow, Stolp)
Women's 600 Meters (Heat 1 of 2 – López, Montoliu Tio, Stolte; Heat 2 of 2 – Capozzi)
Men's 600 Meters (Heat 1 of 2 – Ahmed, A.; Heat 2 of 2 – Arthur)
Women's 800 Meters (No PSU Runners)
Men's 800 Meters (Heat 1 of 2 – Brown, Garcia; Heat 2 of 2 – Ahmed, M., Parks, Walsh)
Women's Mile (Heat 1 of 2 – Schmitke, Zarrin; Heat 2 of 2 – Wapsheli)
Men's Mile (Heat 1 of 2 – Abade, Arthur, Estrada, Ibrahim, Smith; Heat 2 of 2 – Sandoval)