sports briefs

TRACK & FIELD

Track heads to Clackamas Invitational >After competing at the Willamette Invitational on April 6, the Portland State track team had this past weekend off. The team is coming off a solid performance at the Willamette Invitational and will use this weekend’s meet to prepare for the Oregon Invitational on April 27.

Aside from Clark College (Wash.), the teams competing this weekend will be from Oregon, including George Fox, Linfield, Mount Hood Community College, Western Oregon, Willamette and host school Clackamas Community College.

“This meet will be a tune-up for our team. A chance for us to get a little sharper and people to compete better in preparing for the Oregon Invitational,” head coach Tony Veney said.

The Vikings are now in their last five weeks of the season and have three more meets before heading to the Big Sky Championships in Missoula, Mont. This weekend’s meet will take place on Saturday April 20, at Clackamas Community College.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Joel Sobotka resigns as head coach >Four-year coaching veteran Joel Sobotka has resigned his position as Portland State men’s basketball coach. He leaves the job with a 53-59 record.

“I want to thank my team, my staff, Portland State University, our basketball alumni and the community for the support they have given this program over the past six years,” Sobotka stated in a recent press release. “I have great pride in what we have all accomplished and I wish Portland State nothing but success in the future.”

Sobotka, who made the announcement to Athletics Director Tom Burman last Friday, plans to pursue other collegiate coaching opportunities.

“We appreciate the commitment and effort that Joel has put into the Viking program for the past six years. He is a very well thought of person within our department and on campus,” Burman said.

Portland State will begin a national search for a new men’s basketball coach immediately.

“We will explore all avenues for a new coach for our program, but we will also work as quickly and expeditiously as possible,” Burman said.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Blum to represent PSU at Leadership Conference

Portland State University women’s soccer player Rebecca Blum was selected to participate in the seventh-annual NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference on May 26-30 at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex and Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

The junior plays midfield for the Vikings and is a three-time Big Sky all-academic selection. She recorded her first career assist this past season, setting up a game-winning goal against conference rival Eastern Washington.

Blum, a business major, serves as vice president of PSU’s student-athlete advisory board (SAAB) and will be elevated to president for her senior year.

The NCAA Leadership Conference brings together 300 student-athletes from Division I, II, and III institutions to participate in the NCAA’s CHAMPS/Life Skills program. The event is one of the largest noncompetitive gatherings of student-athletes in the United States.

-sports staff