The Portland State indoor track and field teams wrapped up their regular season on Friday and Saturday in the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M, and the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash. The hard work put into this season shows in the many records broken and the number of Vikings qualified for the Big Sky Championship, which will be held on Feb. 25–26.
In Albuquerque on Friday, senior Karene King ran the 200-meter in 24.02 seconds, destroying the school record by .12, and her own personal record by .29.
“She’s leading the conference list in the 200m by a half of second, which is a huge margin for a race that short,” said assistant coach Cassie Stilley.
Junior Anaiah Rhodes had a record-breaking weekend, too. She surpassed her time in the 60m by .15 seconds. Her new record qualifies her for the Big Sky Championship, and places her within the top five in the conference.
Sophomore Geronne Black broke her personal record with a time of 7.45 in the 60m, just .01 seconds short of the school record.
In Seattle, members of the men’s distance team were also busy breaking school records.
Senior Andrew Slag finished the 5,000m in 14 minutes, 50.81 seconds to shatter the school record by about 17 seconds. Slag had already qualified for the Big Sky Championship in the event earlier in the season.
Tony Crisofulli broke his own school record in the 800m by clocking in with a time of 1:50.32 to finish 21st. Also in Seattle, freshman Zachary Carpenter ran an 8:29.28 in the 3,000m, which puts him in fifth place in the conference and also qualifies him for the 5,000m in the Big Sky Championship.
Viking junior J.J. Rosenberg qualified for the championship in the 400m with a time of 49.01, beating his personal best by two seconds. Rosenberg, as well as Crisofulli, junior DeShawn Shead and sophomore Nate Lightner helped the PSU 4 x 400m relay team run a 3:20.58. The team is waiting to see whether they will be running in the championship.
The track team was split up this weekend for the two meets according to the athlete and their events. The sprinters headed south to New Mexico, and the long distance runners went up north.
“New Mexico’s track is only 200 meters long, so there are more tight turns, making it harder to run fast,” Stilley said. “When you’re only running 60m, you don’t have to worry about running around the turns, so it doesn’t matter how tight they are. The track in Seattle is over 300 meters long, so there are fewer turns, which makes it faster for the races that go around the turn instead of just on the straight parts.”
Next week, the Vikings will have the week off to prepare for the Big Sky Championship in Pocatello, Idaho.
“This past weekend shows that everyone is in great shape, so the most important thing in the next few days is getting people mentally ready,” Stilley said. ?