Complete meet notes with personal bests and performance lists (PDF)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Portland State track and field teams compete at their second meet of the indoor season Saturday, when they travel to the Lobo Collegiate Invitational at the Albuquerque Convention Center, hosted by the University of New Mexico.
 
The Vikings will send 22 athletes to the meet across 15 individual events. The meet will mark the 2015 debut for sophomore Baileh Simms, the defending Big Sky champion in the outdoor long jump. Simms will compete in the long jump for the first time in 2015 at the meet, and will also run in the prelims of the 60 meters.
 
Additionally, junior Rockwell Tufty will make his 2015 high jump debut, after breaking the school record in the outdoor high jump while placing second in the event at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships last season.
 
Junior Major Oni will also make his Portland State debut in the triple jump, as he prepares for the rare triple jump and weight throw double for a non-multi-event athlete. Junior Tyson Stipic will also make his 2015 debut in the triple jump after competing in the event at the 2014 Big Sky Indoor and Outdoor Championships.
 
Saturday's meet will also give the Vikings' four Big Sky auto qualifiers opportunities to better their times in their events. Senior sprinter Jazmin Ratcliff will have the chance to move up the national rankings in the 60-meter hurdles, as she competes in the event Saturday currently sitting 44th nationally with her time of 8.52 seconds from last week.
 
Junior Sheldon Prince will also get a chance to lower his qualifying time in the 400 meters – 48.62 seconds from last week – and will also get a chance to hit the qualifying mark in the 200 meters. Sophomore Genna Settle and senior Jasmine Woods, meanwhile, each hit the qualifying mark in the 60 meters last week, and compete in the event again Saturday.
 
Freshman sprinter/jumper Spenser Schmidt will also be in action in the long jump Saturday, as well as the 60 and 200 meters. Schmidt came with .02 meters of hitting the qualifying mark in the long jump last week, jumping 22-07.00 (6.88m) at the UW Indoor Preview. Schmidt also came within just .02 seconds of qualifying in the 60 meters, as he finished the prelims of the event in 7.02 seconds, just off the qualifying time of 7.00.
 
Competition at Saturday's meet will open at 9 a.m. for the Vikings, as junior Sydney Johnson competes in the women's weight throw, while Tufty and Stipic compete in the men's high jump. Running events, meanwhile, will start at 10:30 a.m. with the men's 200 meters.
 
MEET INFORMATION:
Jan. 24, 2015 – Lobo Collegiate Invitational – Albuquerque, N.M. – Albuquerque Convention Center
 
LOBO COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE:
Saturday, Jan. 24
Field Events
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU accepted entries)
9 a.m.                       Women's Weight Throw (Johnson)
9 a.m.                       Men's High Jump (Stipic, Tufty)
9:30 a.m.                   Women's Long Jump (Arlauskas, Jones, Richey, Simms)
10 a.m.                      Men's Long Jump (Schmidt)
11 a.m.                      Men's Weight Throw (Oni)
1 p.m.                        Women's Shot Put (Johnson)
1:30 p.m.                   Men's Triple Jump (Oni, Stipic)
 
Running Events
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU accepted entries)
10:30 a.m.                 Men's 200 Meters (Gable, Nixon, Pfefferkorn, Prince, Schmidt – Sections TBD)
10:55 a.m.                 Women's 200 Meters (Arlauskas, Diggs, Jones, Settle, Wayne, White, Woods – Sections TBD)
12:45 p.m.                 Women's 60-Meter Hurdles – Prelims (Anderson, Ratcliff)
1 p.m.                       Men's 60 Meters – Prelims (Schmidt)
1:15 p.m.                   Women's 60 Meters – Prelims (Anderson, Ratcliff, Richey, Settle, Simms, Wayne, White, Woods)
2:10 p.m.                   Men's 400 Meters (Gable, Nixon, Pfefferkon, Prince)
2:30 p.m.                   Women's 400 Meters (Diggs, Tollefson)
3:05 p.m.                   Women's 60-Meter Hurdles – Final
3:15 p.m.                   Men's 60 Meters – Final
3:20 p.m.                   Women's 60 Meters – Final
3:40 p.m.                   Women's 800 Meters (Beng, Tollefson)
3:50 p.m.                   Men's 200 Meters (Gable, Nixon, Pfefferkorn, Prince, Schmidt – Sections TBD)
4 p.m.                        Women's 200 Meters (Arlauskas, Diggs, Jones, Settle, Wayne, White, Woods – Sections TBD)
4:10 p.m.                   Men's 4x400-Meter Relay
4:20 p.m.                   Women's 4x400-Meter Relay
 
LIVE RESULTS:
Live results will be updated after each event at the meet at liverunningresults.com. The link to live results will also be available on the track and field schedule pages on GoViks.com.
 
COMING UP:
The Viking track and field teams will next compete at the UW Invitational Jan. 30-31 at Dempsey Indoor in Seattle, Wash. The meet will be the Vikings' second meet at Dempsey Indoor so far, after they opened their indoor season at the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 17.
 
RATCLIFF EARNS FIRST CAREER BIG SKY ATHLETE OF THE WEEK HONOR:
Senior sprinter Jazmin Ratcliff earned her first career Big Sky women's track athlete of the week honor Tuesday, after hitting the Big Sky qualifying mark in the 60-meter hurdles at the UW Indoor Preview Saturday. Ratcliff ran the 60-meter hurdles in 8.52 seconds, placing her third in a stack field in the event, and putting her atop the Big Sky in the event by .15 seconds. Tuesday's athlete of the week honor filled a long overdue void in the senior's decorated career, which has included one Big Sky record (outdoor 100m hurdles), three school records (indoor 60m hurdles, outdoor 100m hurdles, 4x100m relay), four individual Big Sky championships and seven All-Big Sky performances.
 
RATCLIFF AMONG TOP 50 IN NATION IN 60-METER HURDLES:
With her time of 8.52 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles at the UW Indoor Preview Saturday, senior sprinter Jazmin Ratcliff ranks 44th nationally in the event. Ratcliff will need to move up in the national rankings if she wants to fulfill her preseason aspirations of qualifying for the NCAA Indoor meet. The top 16 declared student-athletes in the 60-meter hurdles will qualify for the national meet, leaving Ratcliff out of luck at the moment. The current 16th-best time in the nation is 8.34 seconds, which is right around Ratcliff's personal best of 8.35 seconds, set at the Big Sky Championships last season.
 
UW INDOOR PREVIEW RECAP:
Four sprinters hit Big Sky qualifying marks as the Vikings opened their indoor seasons Jan. 17 at the UW Indoor Preview at Dempsey Indoor in Seattle, Wash. Senior Jazmin Ratcliff led the group of four qualifiers, as she placed third in a stacked field in the 60-meter hurdles, crossing the line in 8.52 seconds. Junior Sheldon Prince, meanwhile, hit the qualifying mark in the 400 meters, running the distance in 48.62 seconds. Sophomore Genna Settle and senior Jasmine Woods also both hit the qualifying marks in the women's 60 meters at the meet, with Settle finishing in 7.63 seconds, while Woods finished in 7.65 seconds. Besides those four, several new Vikings made impressive debuts for the team, including freshman Spenser Schmidt, who posted an impressive mark of 22-07.00 (6.88m) in the long jump. Schmidt's jump moves him up to sixth all-time in the indoor long jump at Portland State after his first meet as a Viking. Schmidt also ran the 60 meters in 7.02 seconds in the prelims of the event, moving him up to ninth all-time at Portland State. Newcomers Ta'mara Richey, Akayla Anderson and Amanda Boman also entered the all-time top 10s in the women's triple jump, 60-meter hurdles and 3,000 meters, respectively. Boman moved all the way up to fourth in the women's 3,000 meters, as she ran the distance in 9:53.33, almost 45 seconds faster than her personal best in the outdoor 3,000 meters.
 
BIG SKY QUALIFIERS:
Four Vikings have qualified for the Big Sky Championships already, as four of the team's sprinters hit auto marks at the team's season-opening meet at the UW Indoor Preview. Qualifying marks assure the athlete of competing at the conference meet in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Feb. 26-28. Outside of the Big Sky qualifiers, the rest of the field for each event will be filled out following the descending order list for each event with the top 16 making the meet.
 
PSU Big Sky Auto Qualifiers (through Jan. 17)
Women:
Jazmin Ratcliff – 60m Hurdles – 8.52 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
Genna Settle – 60m – 7.63 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
Jasmine Woods – 7.65 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
Men:
Sheldon Prince – 400m – 48.62 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
VIKINGS IN BIG SKY TOP 20:
Women:
60m
1. Genna Settle – 7.63 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
4. Jasmine Woods – 7.65 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
T-16. Akayla Anderson – 7.95 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
T-16. Adia White – 7.95 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
20. Nettie Wayne – 8.00 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
200m
3. Jasmine Woods – 25.00 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
13. D'nara Jones – 25.96 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
400m
5. Whitney Diggs – 56.92 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
800m
8. Nyalual Beng – 2:19.41 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
12. Kris Tollefson – 2:20.21 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
13. Gwyneth McMorris – 2:20.80 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
Mile
8. Amanda Boman – 5:03.90 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
10. Keikoanne Hollins – 5:07.07 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
3,000m
3. Amanda Boman – 9:53.33 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
6. Cheryn Trapp – 10:04.39 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
12. Maggie Coleman – 10:23.55 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
60m Hurdles
1. Jazmin Ratcliff – 8.52 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
4. CeCelia Jackson – 8.78 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
6. Akayla Anderson – 8.81 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
4x400m Relay
4. Portland State – 3:58.53 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
Long Jump
8. Genna Settle – 17-08.75 (5.40m) – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
Triple Jump
3. Ta'mara Richey – 37-02.25 (11.33m) – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
4. Sierra Arlauskas – 37-00.50 (11.29m) – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
6. D'nara Jones – 36-09.00 (11.20m) – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
Men:
60m
7. Spenser Schmidt – 7.02 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
10. Sheldon Prince – 7.07 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
400m
2. Sheldon Prince – 48.62 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
10. Mitchell Gable – 49.80 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
14. Hunter Pfefferkorn – 50.33 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
800m
6. Ben Richardson – 1:56.31 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
7. T-Roy Brown – 1:56.75 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
10. Spencer Russell – 1:57.45 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
Mile
3. T-Roy Brown – 4:14.20 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
9. Nathan Fleck – 4:20.71 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
4x400m Relay
3. Portland State – 3:20.63 – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
High Jump
8. Tyson Stipic – 6-04.75 (1.95m) – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
Long Jump
3. Spenser Schmidt – 22-07.00 (6.88m) – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
Weight Throw
19. Major Oni – 44-08.25 (13.62m) – UW Indoor Preview (1/17/15)
 
VIKINGS PICKED TO FINISH FOURTH, 10TH IN BIG SKY PRESEASON POLL:
Big Sky coaches predicted the Viking women would finish fourth, while the men would finish 10th in the Big Sky this season in their annual preseason coaches' poll. The Viking women received one first-place vote in the poll to finish with 102 total points behind preseason favorites Northern Arizona (141 points, 10 first-place votes), Sacramento State (111 points, 1 first-place vote) and Weber State (111 points). The Viking men, meanwhile, received 47 points in the poll, putting them six points behind Idaho State, which finished ninth in the poll with 53 total points. Northern Arizona topped the poll on the men's side, receiving 11 of the 12 possible first-place votes to finish with 143 total points. Sacramento State finished second to the NAU men in the preseason poll, picking up the other first-place vote en route to 121 total points.
 
RETURNING POINTS:
The Viking women should be positioned to possibly beat their preseason projection this season, as they return a lot of their point scorers from last season's Big Sky Indoor and Outdoor meets. All told, the Viking women return 44 of the 57 points they scored at the Big Sky Indoor meet, as well as 73 of the 89 points they scored at the Big Sky Outdoor meet. The women also return three of their four individual champions from last season's Big Sky Outdoor meet in senior Jazmin Ratcliff (100m hurdles champion), sophomore Baileh Simms (long jump champion) and their entire 4x100-meter relay team that broke the school record in the event. Additionally, the athletes responsible for 10 of the Vikings' 12 All-Big Sky performances last season return this season as well.