Running down the dream

Last week, the Portland State track and field teams broke several personal records at the Mt. SAC Relays. Then on Saturday at the Mondo Invitational, they qualified more student-athletes for next month’s Big Sky Outdoor Championship.

 The Mt. SAC Relays in Azusa, Calif., is touted as one of the premier multi-event competitions in the country, and the three PSU athletes that competed all qualified for the conference championship in their respective events. The Vikings competed alongside Olympic medalists at Mt. SAC, but that did not seem to intimidate them.

 Mt. SAC was the first heptathlon for senior Vince Kinney since earning third place at the 2008 Big Sky Outdoor Championship, and he placed sixth with 6,460 points.

 Sophomore Joenisha Vinson needed at least 4,100 points to be eligible for the conference championship, and in her first heptathlon Vinson took the fourth-best score in the Big Sky with 4,723 points. Vinson also qualified in the long jump, high jump and the 200-meter, and her time of 13.94 seconds in the 100m hurdles placed her at the second-fastest time in the record book. 

 At the Mondo Invitational Vinson ran the 100m hurdles in 13.84 seconds to improve her personal record by one tenth of a second and break the Portland State record by .04. Following her record-breaking run at the Mondo Invitation, Vinson’s qualification numbers are 5 feet, 3.25 inches in the high jump, 18 feet, 5.75-inches in the long jump, and 25.07 seconds in the 200m. 

 The Mondo Invitational was the first event since late March that featured the runners and fielders of both teams competing together, and junior John Lawrence said that may have been the motivation the teams needed.

“[Everyone was] together, the morale was high and it was very encouraging during the meet,” he said. 

 Senior Nick Trubachik exceeded his personal record as well as the school record with a score of 7,240 points in the decathlon to place eighth in the event at Mt. SAC. He achieved two new personal bests with a 15-second finish in the 110m hurdles and a javelin throw of 200 feet, 9 inches. 

Junior Karene King took first in the 100m with an 11.91-second finish—her fastest of the season. Sophomore Geronne Black took third with a personal record time of 11.96 seconds, which was only .01 shy of second place. Junior Malissa Anthony qualified for the conference with a 12.41 in the 100m.  Anthony improved her personal best in the 200m to 25.35 seconds, and King brought hers down to a 24.22. 

Placing fifth in his heat, sophomore Tony Crisofulli exceeded his outdoor personal record by .39 seconds with a time of 1:51.87. 

 Senior Daniel Wolverton qualified in the 100m when he clocked a 10.90-second finish, and senior Lavonte Kirven also qualified in the same event with a time of 10.98 seconds to squeeze by the Big Sky’s qualification time of 11 seconds. Kirven cut back his time from his previous personal record of 11.27 seconds. 

 Another teammate who just squeezed by was freshman Nate Lightner. The requirement for the men’s 400m is 48.90, and Lightner clocked in at 48.87 to place fourth in his division. Sophomore Alyssa Rife took second in the 400m hurdles with a 1:02.57, only .13 seconds behind the first place.

 Lawrence took first with a 9:16.93 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Second place Mike Wortment was .04 seconds behind Lawrence. Finishing third in the 3000m steeplechase was senior Nate Endicott with a new personal record of 9:25.04. Fellow Junior Andrew Salg also placed first with a 14:54.29 in the 5,000m. He won the race by almost 50 seconds. Second place Ryan Davis from Idaho State clocked in at 15:02.88. Although, sophomore Mark Bozarth-Dreher missed the requirement for the 1,500-meter he gained a new personal best of 4:07.97. 

 The Vikings have the next weekends off, and return to competition on April 30–May 1 at the Oregon Relays in Eugene.