PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State track & field program may have messed up their spring break plans. Oregonians seeking warmer climates usually escape to California during spring break. But the Vikings will do that next week and instead stay local Saturday for the Willamette Invitational in Salem.
 
Perhaps Salem will greet the Vikings with a sunny day Saturday. Regardless, the Vikings have been using their spring break to put in work. Head coach Joseph Blue noted last week, ahead of the PNW Invite in Corvallis, that his young team needed to compete through spring break in order to continue their development.
 
That appeared to pay off last week as the Vikings saw two school records fall, two more freshman records tied or broken and a number of other overall or freshman top 10 marks set at the PNW Invite.
 
"Last meet was a really good meet for us. A lot of people showed up, a lot of people executed over both days. I was proud of how they did," Blue said of his athletes.
 
Blue's message last week was about execution. "If you executed the way you were supposed to, it probably happened. And if you didn't, it probably didn't happen. That's the reality of it," Blue noted. It's a similar message this week as the Vikings hope to continue to grow their confidence ahead of their California trip. The Vikings head south, April 3-4, for a trio of meets between the Mike Fanelli Track Classic, the Stanford Invitational, and the Brutus Hamilton Invitational.
 
The fact that it's spring break could help. The Vikings can solely focus on competing this week without having to balance class. The extra time has leant itself to a series of team meals that Blue has hosted.
 
"We had taco night Tuesday. Monday, they had pizza. Wednesday, they had pasta. Then I'll have another dinner Thursday night. So, they're getting fed well, getting training in and no school. That's supposed to go well," Blue said.
 
The extra fuel has been needed as the Vikings enter the hardest week of their training program. That's intentional as the Vikings built their schedule to perform well amongst the tough competition that awaits them in California next week. But it might make for an extra challenge this Saturday as the Vikings will have to perform through sore and tired bodies.
 
"Some people do well even under stress and some people don't. We'll see how they do this weekend on their last week of their program. If you can execute even when your body's not feeling completely fresh, then you can do even more when you're feeling A1," Blue said.
 
Whoever performs well Saturday could earn themselves a spot on the California trip next week. Some of last week's top performers figure to have already earned their spot – Emma Stolte and Jack Macdonald among others will rest this week, for instance – but more will be back in action this week.
 
Outside of Stolte and Macdonald, Blue praised the Vikings' 800-meter runners last week. Stolte was a part of that, but the Vikings also got personal or seasonal bests out of Irina López, Hannah Butterfield and Taylor Nichols on the women's side, as well as Amir Ahmed, Ari Smith, JD Arthur and Farhan Ibrahim on the men's side.
 
Blue also praised Ocean Rideout, who cracked 18 feet in the long jump with a personal best of 18-00.50 (5.50m). Rideout's growth has been a source of pride all season. She hadn't jumped before this season but has grown from jumping 15-feet at the beginning of the year to 18-feet now after last week.
 
"The one thing about Ocean is that girl's an athlete. She was already a really good soccer player for us, but also just overall. She's got a great attitude. She works hard. She's very coachable. She's very competitive. We like to see that in athletes. It makes it very easy to coach them, and the results come because they want it," Blue said of Rideout.
 
Rideout will expand her event portfolio this Saturday as she's scheduled to run her first 100-meter hurdles along with the 200 meters and 4x400-meter relay.
 
It's all part of the development process for Rideout and the rest of the Vikings as they get ready for next week's California meets.
 
"These are the biggest weeks in track and field [on the west coast], so we're preparing ourselves to get there. We had a good meet last week, so hopefully we have some confidence moving into that. And this is another week where we continue to build confidence in our execution. And then when we get to Cali, it's showtime."
 
You've got to be beach body ready for a trip to California, after all. Even if it's a week after spring break.
 
MEET INFO
Saturday, March 28 – Willamette Invitational – Salem, Ore. (McCulloch Stadium – except hammer which will be at Corban University's Outdoor Athletic Complex)
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Live Results
 
MEET SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 28
Time (PT) – Events (PSU Entries)
11 a.m. – Men's Long Jump (Flight 1 of 1 – Parrow)
11:30 a.m. – Men's Discus (Flight 1 of 1 – LaGris)
~12:30 p.m. – Women's Long Jump (Flight 1 of 1 – Latu-Alves)
~12:30 p.m. – Men's High Jump (Flight 1 of 1 – Mathers)
1 p.m. – Men's 4x100-Meter Relay (Portland State 'A')
1 p.m. – Women's Discus (Flight 1 of 1 – Coté, Edwards, Fletcher, Sayler)
1 p.m. – Men's Shot Put (Flight 1 of 1 – LaGris)
1:10 p.m. – Women's 1,500 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Wapsheli, Zarrin)
1:20 p.m. – Men's 1,500 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Abade, Chen, Estrada, Muradas, Thake)
1:40 p.m. – Women's 100-Meter Hurdles (Heat 2 of 2 – Rideout)
1:55 p.m. – Men's 110-Meter Hurdles (Heat 1 of 1 – Schall)
2:05 p.m. – Women's 400 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Amarillas, Butterfield, López, Medina)
2:10 p.m. – Men's 400 Meters (Heat 2 of 2 – Brost, Macdonald, Stolp, Timmins)
2:20 p.m. – Women's 100 Meters (Heat 1 of 2 – Forst; Heat 2 of 2 – Abdel Halim, Latu-Alves)
2:30 p.m. – Men's 100 meters (Heat 1 of 3 – Cadengo; Heat 2 of 3 – Bakkum, Schall; Heat 3 of 3 – Jones)
2:30 p.m. – Men's Javelin (Flight 1 of 1 – Glad, Green)
2:30 p.m. – Women's Shot Put (Flight 1 of 1 – Fisher, Sayler)
~2:30 p.m. – Men's Triple Jump (Flight 1 of 1 – Mathers, Parrow)
2:45 p.m. – Women's 800 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Tagesson)
2:55 p.m. – Men's 800 Meters (Heat 1 of 2 – Abade, Ahmed, M., Brown, Gillingham; Heat 2 of 2 – Muradas, Payne, Walsh)
3:10 p.m. – Women's 400-Meter Hurdles (Heat 1 of 1 – Peterson)
3:35 p.m. – Women's 200 Meters (Heat 1 of 3 – Abdel Halim, Rideout; Heat 2 of 3 – Medina; Heat 3 of 3 – Amarillas, Jolivette)
3:45 p.m. – Men's 200 Meters (Heat 1 of 3 – Cadengo; Heat 2 of 3 – Bakkum; Heat 3 of 3 – Jones)
4 p.m. – Men's Hammer (Flight 1 of 1 – Green)
4:20 p.m. – Men's 5,000 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Sandoval, Sarver Huber)
4:40 p.m. – Women's 4x400-Meter Relay (Portland State 'A' – Abdel Halim, Medina, Rideout, López)
~5:30 p.m. – Women's Hammer (Flight 1 of 1 – Edwards, Fisher, Fletcher)