Viking Track and Field Finishes Willamette Invitational

The Portland State outdoor track and field team completed their second meet of the season, Saturday, at the Willamette Invitational.

Freshman Keighty Gallagher won the first event for the Vikings this season, as she took the high jump gold medal. Gallagher cleared the 5' 2.25" mark. She defeated her competition by two inches. The mark however was .75-inches short of meeting the Big Sky Outdoor Championships' qualifying mark of 5' 3". Gallagher also competed in the 100m hurdles, where she finished eighth. Her time of 15.98 added her name to the ten spot on Portland State's top-10 fastest 100m hurdlers in school history.

Vikings Peter Jason Tait, Tiffany Bigham and Nkeiru Ugwoaba nearly nabbed the gold in their respective events.

Tait completed the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.63. He was only beat out by unattached Ryan Bailey (14.13). Tait's time moved his name from fourth on Portland State's top-10 list. He was only .06 seconds shy from passing former Viking Mitch Whalen (14.57) for second on the list. Tait already qualified for the Big Sky Championships in week one.

Bigham picked up a second-place finish in the discus and set a person record with a distance of 140' 4". Although she was 10' short from taking the gold, she did, however, meet the Big Sky's qualifying standard of 136'. She became the Vikings fifth qualifier this season.

Ugwoaba leaped a distance of 17' 11" in the women's long jump, two inches short from standing atop the podium. Ugwoaba previously qualified for the Big Sky Outdoor Championships at the Oregon Preview, three weeks ago.

Junior Adriane Wai ended up four-seconds away from qualifying for the conference championships in the 3,000m Steeplechase. Wai finished the race in 11:45.95. The Big Sky standard is set at 11:41. Nevertheless, Wai moved her name up from fourth to third on Portland State's top-10 list. She beat her previous best by 21 seconds. She finished the race in ninth place.

Sophomore Nick Trubachick finished third for the Vikings at the men's high jump. Trubachick was one of six to clear the 6' mark, but fail at the 6' 6" mark. The Big Sky set the qualifying mark at 6' 6" for the 2008 outdoor championships.

Portland State will be lacing its shoes up again next weekend at the LSU Tiger Classic. Check back to www.GoViks.com for the latest Viking news and updates. Also check www.DirectAthletics.com for complete Portland State and Big Sky results.

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