Track gears up for conference finale

The Portland State track teams traveled to Eugene this past weekend to compete at the Oregon Invitational. This was the first of two meets the Vikings will participate in before the Big Sky Championships.

“The meet had mixed results for the PSU track team,” head coach Tony Veney said.

The top finisher for the men in the 100-meter dash was Jim Sattem, who placed fourth. Sattem could have had the victory in the 100, but stumbled out of the start blocks to settle for fourth place according to coach Veney. Colin Olcott placed in the top four in his 800-meter section with a 2002 best of 1:55.43.

“I felt that we learned a little about our ability to stay focused when the meet is spread over such a long period of time,” Veney said.

On the women’s side, Kerine Harvey pulled her hamstring in the 100-meter hurdles. The chances of Harvey’s participation at the Linfield Invitational next weekend are slim.

“Kerine was running an exceptional race when the injury hit at the seventh hurdle,” Veney said.

Ashley Tendick was victorious in her morning 1500-meter section. Tendick was able to run a seasonal best in route to her win. Ena Shemi was a finalist in the 100-meter night section, finishing with a time of 12.63 seconds.

“With conference (championships) a few weeks away, we can still make some minor adjustments in our meet preparation. But the meet served as a pretty good dry run for the Big Sky meet because the level of competition was quite high,” Veney said.

Next weekend, the Vikings will participate in the Linfield Invitational in McMinnville, Ore., for their last meet before the Big Sky Conference Championships.