“It’s the best season I have had since becoming a coach at Portland State.”
Track and Field head coach Ronnye Harrison had that to say after the 2011–12 indoor season came to a close. Harrison coached the women Vikings to a third-place finish in the Big Sky conference and to numerous personal, school and conference records.
“It’s the best season I have had since becoming a coach at Portland State.”
Track and Field head coach Ronnye Harrison had that to say after the 2011–12 indoor season came to a close. Harrison coached the women Vikings to a third-place finish in the Big Sky conference and to numerous personal, school and conference records.
The women’s track and field team had its best finish in five years, and the best finish that Harrison has ever had. This season also saw two of the best runners in Portland State history: Gerrone Black and Karene King. Both Black and King now hold Big Sky conference records.
King and Black had great seasons. But their success has tended to overshadow strong performances by other athletes, including young up-and-coming runners and jumpers. Montaisha Moore is one of the stand-outs this year. The freshman jumper not only made it to the conference championships, but also scored the points to put the Vikings on the championship podium.
“At the beginning of this year we knew where we were going to be as far as being competitive in the conference,” Harrison said. “The surprises were the freshman athletes. We hoped by having this person or having that person that such and such will happen. In many cases, the outcomes were better than we expected. But we knew we needed those outcomes to be top three in the conference.”
Even though the Vikings capped off their season with a great last meet, there was an unfortunate side to this year’s indoor season. Karene King has run her last meet as an athlete for Portland State. King had a career full of medals and record breaking. King now moves on to the next chapter of her life, running for her native country, the British Virgin Islands. She hopes to run in the 2012 Olympics.
“The school should be incredibly proud of Karene King,” Harrison said. “She is a very important piece to this program. What’s missed by Karene is more than her PRs or her time in the 200. It’s actually her leadership. Filling that void is going to be virtually impossible.”
Losing King is a huge blow to the team going into the outdoor season. Harrison hopes that other athletes will step up and help get back some of the points that the Vikings will lose without the senior sprinter.
“Outdoor season is a season that everyone has experience in,” Harrison said. “I believe we will be in the top five in the conference for outdoor if we put some things together with athletes that haven’t competed yet.”
The Vikings track and field squad starts the outdoor season in Eugene at the Oregon preview on March 18. Harrison wants to get the program out there and more noticed by the Portland State community.
“I would encourage people to get out the meet we have at Oregon or Willamette and just stay abreast with what’s going on with the track and field program,” Harrison said. “Outside of the University of Oregon, we are probably the No. 2 program in this state for division one schools. At PSU more of the student body needs to be involved with all the athletics that go on at this school.”
