Portland State outdoor track and field team had a tremendous weekend as they earned 12 gold medals at Friday's Pacific Twilight, Friday.
"We had a great meet and great weather yesterday at Pacific," said Head Coach Kebba Tolbert. "This was what we needed to get ready for the conference meet in a few weeks. I feel like we are coming together at the right time. A lot of our athletes really stepped up and showed that how much work they've put in. We still have some fine tuning to do before we get to Sacramento but I am very happy with where things are at."
The Vikings seniors Trevor Rollinger and Caressa Sims and junior Jernise Saunders were all multiple event winners.
Rollinger highlighted the meet for the Portland State and became the first Viking this season to win three gold medals at a meet. He won the men's 200m, 400m and ran a leg of the men's 4x400m race. His most notable time came in the 400m race. He completed the dash with a time of 48.86. The time not only gave him the gold, but it qualified him for the 400m at the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships on May 14-17. Rollinger also came through in the 200m with a time of 22.22. His 4x400m team completed their competition with a time of 3:21.51. The time is seventh best in the conference and as of now qualifies them for the conference championships. They will only get knocked out if two relay teams post better times and take them out of the top eight teams in the conference.
Sims won both the women's shot put and hammer throw. She set a new Portland state record in the shot put with a mark of 46' 7.25". The mark was exactly three inches further than her previously set record of 46'4.25". Sims won the event by over two feet. In the hammer throw, Sims reached a distance of 180' 4". The throw was nine-feet off her personal best and was nearly 38 feet further than the second-place finisher. Sims also ran in the women's 100m race and picked up a third-place finish. She crossed the finish line with a time of 12.27.
Saunders did not only win both the women's 100m and 200m, but set new stadium records in both events. She posted a time of 12.25 in the 100m and finished the 200m in 24.64. Saunders' time made her the seventh fastest female sprinter in the 100m and the fifth fastest runner in the women's 200m in Portland State history. She is set to compete in both events at the Big Sky championships.
"Jernise's 200m performance really stood out to me because she is starting to execute the technical things we have been working on," said Tolbert. "We've had a lot of good sprinters in the past few years here at PSU, but if she works hard she has the talent to be one of the best ever in our program."
Other even winners include: Adriane Wai in the women's 3,000m Steeplechase; Nkeiru Ugwoaba in the women's Long Jump; Tiffany Bigham in the women's Discus; Peter Jason Tait in the men's 110m Hurdles; Nate Endicott in the men's 3,000m Steeplechase; and the men's 4x400m team.
The Vikings had five athletes meet the Big Sky qualifying marks, had six athletes crack the Portland State top 10 list and set a total of nine stadium records marks this weekend.
Portland State's Brookman Holmes, Trevor Rollinger, Peter Jason Tait, Nate Endicott and Keighty Gallagher all qualified for the Big Sky championships. Holmes finished the men's 800m race with a time of 1:53.38. Rollinger completed the men's 400m in 48.86. Tait ran the 100m dash in 10.84. Endicott completed the 3,000m Steeplechase with a time of 9:35.26. Lastly, Gallagher leaped a distance of 37' 3" in the women's triple jump.
Portland State top 10 list updates: Peter Jason Tait 100m-10.84, 5th... Jesse Fassler 800m-1:52.86, 7th... Brookman Holmes 800m-1:53.38, 9th... Nate Endicott 3,000m Steeplechase-9:35.26, 5th... Jernise Saunders 100m-12.25, 7th; 200m-24.64, 5th... Keighty Gallagher Triple Jump-37' 3".
Stadium Records: Women- 100m (Saunders, 12.25), 200m (Saunders, 24.64), Steeple (Wai, 11:45.95), Triple Jump (Ugwoaba, 36' 6.75"); Men ? 200m (Rollinger, 22.22), 400m (Rollinger, 48.86), 110mH (Tait, 14.78), Steeple (Endicott, 9:35.26), 4x400m (Kinney, Fassler, Rollinger, Trubachik, 3:21.51)
