Rumble in the concrete jungle

The Portland State indoor track and field teams are in New York City, N.Y., today to compete in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational at the renowned Armory Track and Field Center.

“Outside of the Tyson Invitational in Arkansas, the meet in New York is the best in the country,” said head coach Ronnye Harrison in a statement released by the school.

The Viks look to add to last weekend’s string of successes at the UW Invitational in Seattle, Wash., where they clocked nine personal records and where Senior Nick Trubachik beat his own school record in the heptathlon— scoring a 5,307 to best the previous record of 5,261.

He was just 18 points short of NCAA qualification, and also earned the No. 2 spot in the school’s record books in the high jump (6-foot-6) and pole vault (14-foot-7.25).

Top performers in the Big Sky Conference from PSU are Trubachik, junior Karene King, sophomore Tony Crisofulli and sophomore Joenisha Vinson. 

With a time of 7.62 seconds in the 60-meter dash, King takes the No. 1 spot in the conference. She also earned the conference’s top time in the 200-meter dash at 25 seconds flat. 

“Karene King possesses nearly all the intangibles it takes to be a true champion,” Harrison said.
In the 800-meter, Crisofulli took No. 3 in the conference with a 1-minute, 53.03-second time—cutting just 2.53 seconds short of NCAA qualification. Also third in the conference is Vinson, with a time of 8.79 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles and an 8.22 in the 55-meter hurdles.

Freshman Jeff Borgerson, sophomore John Lawrence and junior Andrew Salg also qualified for the Big Sky Championship taking place later this month. Borgerson took the No. 3 spot in the record books.

Up next for PSU is the Husky Classic in Seattle—this will be the last regular-season event before the Big Sky Championship on Feb. 26–27.