Big Sky Indoor Championships

 The indoor track season is coming to an end, and 21 student-athletes from the Portland State men’s and women’s track and field teams are closing the season today at the conference championships.

The Big Sky Indoor Championships begin today and run through tomorrow in Bozeman, Mont. Portland State sent 14 women and seven men to compete against the best runners, jumpers and throwers in the conference.

The Vikings are looking to improve on last year’s Indoor Championships, when three PSU athletes walked away with a total of four medals—three gold and one silver. Senior Nick Trubachik, last year’s champion in the indoor heptathlon, is looking to repeat his gold-medal performance and become the first PSU athlete to secure back-to-back championships in the event.

“It goes without saying that Nick Trubachik will be on the hunt to go to nationals, as well as win indoors,” said head coach Ronnye Harrison.

Trubachik took last year’s gold with a then-school record of 5,261 points. This year, he comes into the championships with a new school record of 5,307 points. 

An increase in Trubachik’s points is not the only way the Portland State teams have improved this season. Under the ambitious guidance of Harrison, the men’s and women’s teams have come a long way from past seasons.

“Last year, we struggled to have 14 women going into the first meet—this year we had 25,” Harrison said in a statement released earlier this year. “Academically, I think we have improved a bit as well, which makes coaching a lot easier when you don’t have to worry about those kinds of things.”

Seven of Harrison‘s student-athletes met the conference’s qualification standards in the first meet of the 2010 season, and the championship roster just built up from there.

Throughout the season, the Vikings made serious impressions on the record books. Leading the pack is sophomore Tony Crisofulli, who broke the school record for the 800-meter with a time of 1 minute, 50.82 seconds at the UW Husky Classic earlier this month. His time is less than a second shy of the NCAA qualification standard.

Harrison feels the championships provide a new environment for unexpected improvement.

“Focus and purpose are the operative words of the day,” he said. “To do something you never did, you have to do something better than you’ve ever done.”

Sophomore sprinter Gerrone Black has consistently lowered her times this year. Her time of 7.58 seconds in 60m converts to 7.06 seconds in the 55m and ties for the fastest in the Big Sky this year.

Junior Karene King holds the fourth-fastest times in the Big Sky in both the 55m and the 200m with 7.1 and 24.87 seconds, respectively.

Junior Katie Blue, who already holds the No. 1 spot in PSU’s books in the 5,000m with last year’s time of 18:05.39, comes into this year’s championship meet with the sixth fastest time in conference.

Portland State‘s runners will be competing at altitude in Bozeman, but Harrison doesn’t think that will affect the performance of his teams.

“It’s the championships—if you have the time to make excuses, you shouldn’t be here,” Harrison said.

The Big Sky Indoor Championships begin at 9 a.m. today at Montana State‘s Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. Events run through tomorrow.