Sports Briefs

Vikings place 14th at Stanford Tourney

A tough course and an even tougher field that featured several of the nation’s premier schools contributed to the Vikings’ 14th-place finish at the Peg Barnard California Collegiate Championship in Palo Alto, Calif., over the weekend.

The Vikings were led by freshman Alexia Brown’s two-day total of 156, followed by junior Kayla Morinaga’s 159 and freshman Aubrey Vaughn’s 161.

Host Stanford University took the team title, while Karinn Dickson of the University of Washington was the individual winner, shooting an even par 142 over the two-day event.

Morinaga received her second consecutive second-team selection, and could give the Vikings a boost as they head to Arizona to compete in the Big Sky Tournament, beginning April 20 and ending April 23.

After winning the Big Sky Conference Championship three consecutive years from 2003 to 2005, the Vikings have fallen to third place each of the past two seasons.

Other conference awards winners include Northern Arizona’s Sophia Choi, who was honored as the Big Sky Player of the Year for a record third time, and Eastern Washington’s Kristina Gargaro was announced as the Big Sky Freshman of the Year.

Skyler Archibald

Five Viks qualify for Big Sky Championships

Following a historic weekend at the LSU Tiger Invitational in Baton Rogue, La., five Vikings were named as qualifiers for the Big Sky Outdoor Championships that begin May 14.

Among the Portland State athletes that qualified for the Big Sky Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif., are senior Caressa Sims (weight and hammer throws), junior Vince Kinney (decathlon), sophomore Nick Trubachik (decathlon and javelin), sophomore Nkeiru Ugwoaba (triple jump) and freshman Jessie Fassler (800 meter).

Trubachik and Kinney finished fifth and sixth respectively in the decathlon, both setting personal records and topping the charts for total points by a Big Sky performer this season.

Trubachik, an Estacada, Ore., native, compiled 6, 824 points with his fifth-place finish in the decathlon, including winning the javelin throw event and placing second in the 1,500-meter run.

With a sixth-place finish in the decathlon, Kinney concluded the event with 6,709 points. He came across the line first in the 1,500-meter race and took second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.65 seconds.

Sims set a new Portland State record, beating her previous mark of 183’8″, with a second-place finish in the weight throw. The senior’s improved her mark by over three feet at 186′ 11″, losing only to Auburn’s Valentina Srsa.

Nathan Hellman

Vikings finish No. 24 in Mid-Major Poll

A school-record 23 wins, Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament championships, and Portland State’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament were enough for the Vikings to finish in the top 25 of the Mid-Major Poll, sponsored by www.collegeinsider.com.

Portland State, the only Big Sky team to receive votes for inclusion, earned the No. 24 slot in the final release of the Mid-major Poll, made up of teams from 22 conferences, for the 2007-08 season.

The Vikings fared quite well against those teams ranked ahead of them in the poll, maintained a 2-1 record with wins over IUPUI (No. 19) and Akron (No. 21) and a loss to Cal State Fullerton (No. 12).

Mid-Major Top 10

1. Davidson (30) 29-72. Butler (1) 30-43. Western Kentucky 29-74. Drake 28-55. Gonzaga 25-86. Kent State 28-77. St. Mary’s 25-78. South Alabama 26-79. Siena 23-1110. VCU 24-8

Nathan Hellman