Competing at the Pacific Twilight meet in Forest Grove, the Portland State track and field squad showed why they will be tough to handle at the Big Sky Championships next week, with several first-place finishes. The team prepares to compete at the same site this coming weekend.
Track and field gets set for Big Sky meet
Competing at the Pacific Twilight meet in Forest Grove, the Portland State track and field squad showed why they will be tough to handle at the Big Sky Championships next week, with several first-place finishes. The team prepares to compete at the same site this coming weekend.
“We could not have had a better tune-up for [the] outdoor championships,” assistant coach Seth Henson said. “We have trained for this all year, and we did what we were expected to do at this meet.”
The men’s and women’s teams both made their mark on the event. Freshman
Bianca Martin and senior Amber Rozcicha took first and second place in the 800-meter, respectively, while senior Hannah Johnson posted a new PSU record in the shot put, improving upon the record she set last week. On the men’s side, Tony Crisofulli finished in first place in the 800-meter and freshman Rockwell Tufty took first in the high jump. Despite the big weekend, the team is being careful not to get ahead of itself.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Henson said. “Our conference is really talented and really deep this year.”
Along with the thrill of a Big Sky title run, winning the conference championship would be a tremendous boon for PSU’s recruiting efforts. Success in recent years is already starting to pay dividends for the program, which is benefitting from a slew of new talent this year, including junior transfer Camelia Mayfield.
“I think it would be awesome [to win the conference championship],” Mayfield said. “We definitely have what it takes to get it done.”
The Big Sky Conference Championships are scheduled for May 8–11.
