Faster than a speeding bullet

As the Portland State cross country team hurtles into ranks today at the Mike Hodges Invitational, hosted by Clackamas Community College in Oregon City, the Viking runners find themselves in a position blessed with one of the holiest things in the sport: momentum.

In their previous meet, the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem two weeks ago, the Vikings posted multiple personal records and combined to finish in ninth place out of 19 for the men’s squad and 10th for the women’s.

Junior John Lawrence, who posted a personal best of 25 minutes, 14 seconds on the eight-kilometer course, led the Vikings field by placing 31st out of 198. Junior Andrew Salg trailed Lawrence by only .02 seconds to come in at 32nd.

On the women’s side, junior Amelia Holcombe placed 24th out of 203 with a personal best of 18 minutes, 20 seconds on the five-kilometer course, and freshman Amber Rozcicha bested her previous record by over five minutes to finish 36th.

The Vikings look to continue improving their times on the fast course in Oregon City today, as they compete against 15 colleges from around the Pacific Northwest, including cross-town rival University of Portland.

The Hodges Invitational is Portland State’s final regular-season meet and the course will be shorter than prior events. The course is four miles long for the men and five kilometers for the women, and will serve as a suitable warm up for the Big Sky Championships on Oct. 31.

Lawrence, who ran for a personal record in his appearance at Hodges last year, is looking forward to running the shorter course again.

“It’s a mile shorter than the eight kilometer,” he said. “It will help us to get our legs under us and get us ready for conference.”

Races begin today at 3:30 p.m. for the women and 4:15 p.m. for the men.