After competing in Berkeley, Calif., at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational last weekend, the Portland State track and field squad has just one meet left before the Big Sky Conference Championships.
Almost at the finish line
After competing in Berkeley, Calif., at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational last weekend, the Portland State track and field squad has just one meet left before the Big Sky Conference Championships.
The Vikings saw some welcome success in the field events in Berkeley, with three women setting personal bests. Leading the way was Hanna Johnson, who finished second in the shot put with a distance of 14.75 meters (48-04.75), breaking the previous school record by almost two feet.
“Some really special things happened at the Brutus Hamilton,” assistant coach Seth Henson said. “Our women’s team overall showed up, and we were focused.”
The field events will be key for PSU at the Big Sky meet, as the Vikings hope to make up some of the points they could not get at the indoor conference championships in February. As usual, the team’s runners were on display in California, as three Vikings made the final in the 1,500-meter event. Freshman Bianca Martin continued her stellar freshman season, taking first place with a time of 4 minutes, 29.13 seconds, while Amber Rozcicha and Camelia Mayfield were not far behind her, finishing in fourth and eighth place, respectively.
The regular season is not quite over, though, and the PSU athletes are still trying to qualify and get themselves in the best position possible before the Big Sky Championships. That is what last weekend was all about down in Berkeley, and it will be the team’s focus going into the final weekend of competition. The Vikings squad has hit a point in their season where the heavy lifting is over and it’s time for the athletes to gear up for what could be a historic finish. PSU has an excellent shot to take home the Big Sky title and will host the conference championship for the first time ever on May 8 in Forest Grove.
“It’s settle-down time,” Henson said. “We are getting ready for the conference championships and just [trying to] make sure we are staying healthy for the regional and national circuit we have coming up. Hopefully we will have kids running all the way through June.”
The Vikings now move on to their last competition of the regular season at the
Oregon Twilight in Eugene on May 4.
