Sprinting through the finish line to take away two gold medals

The Vikings officially finished their indoor track season this weekend at the Big Sky Championship in Pocatello, Idaho. It was a tough weekend for the Vikings, but they were able to walk away with two gold medals, two bronze and many other athletes with scores that just barely missed the podium.

Junior Tony Crisofulli won his first career medal, placing third in the 800-meter with a time of one minute and 51.26 seconds, only .52 behind the first-place runner. Crisofulli was the only male athlete to win a medal for the team, but many others were close behind.

The men’s distance medley team, made up of seniors John Lawrence and Nate Endicott and freshmen Zachary Carpenter and Luke Leddige, took fifth overall. Junior J.J. Rosenberg took sixth in the 400-m and 10th in the heptathlon. Junior DeShawn Shead, who only joined the track team at the Husky Classic on Feb. 12, came in fifth in the 60-m hurdles.

On the women’s side, both senior Karene King and sophomore Geronne Black took gold medals in the 200-m and the 60-m, respectively. King, a native from the British Virgin Islands, also ran in the 60-m and ended up coming in fourth by a mere .01.

Black came back for the second year in a row as a champion in the short distance sprints. Last year she won the 55 m. She is the first Big Sky athlete to be a back-to-back champion in the 55- and 60-m since 1994–95. Not only did Black set a new championship record this year of 7.43 seconds, but she broke a school record as well. She also came in fourth in the 200-m.

Junior Joenisha Vinson came in third in the pentathlon and finished fourth in the 60-m hurdles. She also competed in the long jump event, finishing in eighth.

Another female athlete who did well was senior Adrienne Davis in the shot put, placing sixth with a distance of 44 feet, .50 inches. Competing for her first time in the Big Sky Championship was freshman Shae Carson, who threw a new personal record at this meet of 42-6.25, placing her in ninth.

The women Vikings also had all four of their 60-m runners place in the finals, which is impressive, said assistant coach Cassie Stilley, because that is the maximum amount of runners that can be entered in an event from one school. The women’s team also finished seventh overall in the conference, and the men in last.

“Since most of those athletes are underclassmen, I think that’s a positive sign for the future because it means our younger athletes are getting in there and mixing it up with the veterans,” Stilley said. “If they can keep working hard and improving, they can score at future championships.”

The team will be taking a break from training and preparing for the outdoor season that starts on March 12 at the Northwest Conference Preview in Forest Grove.

“After seeing the progress some of them are making, we’re really looking forward to seeing what these athletes can do in the outdoor season,” Stilley said. ?