Complete Meet Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State track & field team enters the home stretch of the regular season this weekend, as the Vikings compete at their penultimate regular-season meet with the OSU High Performance Meet this Friday and Saturday at the Whyte Track & Field Center in Corvallis, Ore.
 
The Vikings have had a couple of strong weekends back-to-back going into the meet at OSU this weekend. The Vikings set or bettered four Big Sky qualifying marks at the Mt. SAC Relays and Oregon Relays two weekends ago, and set or bettered five Big Sky qualifying marks at the Triton Invitational last weekend.
 
Junior Genna Settle has been the hottest Viking of late, as she set or tied personal bests in the 100 and 200 meters at the Oregon Relays, and then followed it up with another personal best in the 200 meters at the Triton Invitational.
 
Settle ducked under 24 seconds in the outdoor 200 meters for the first time in her Portland State career, moving her up to second in the 200 within the Big Sky this season. Settle also lowered her Big Sky-leading time in the 100 meters at the Oregon Relays, dropping it down to 11.70 seconds, tying the personal best she set at the OSU High Performance Meet last season.
 
Settle will run in the 100 and 200 meters at the meet Saturday, with both events 75 minutes apart. The 100 meters will run at 2:30 p.m. (PT), while the 200 meters will run at 3:45 p.m. (PT).
 
The OSU meet will also mark the return of senior Amanda Boman, who hasn't competed since shaving more than 34 seconds off her personal best in the 10,000 meters at the Mt. SAC Relays two weekends ago. Boman finished the 10,000 in 34:40.09 at the Mt. SAC Relays, putting her in good position to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary at the end of May.
 
Boman will run in the 5,000 meters Friday night, as a distance carnival opens the meet on the track. Friday will be the first time Boman's run the 5,000 meters since the Vikings' season-opening meet at Lewis & Clark, where she won the event in 17:08.25. Sarah Medved and Cheryn Trapp will join Boman in the 5,000 meters as well, after each set new seasonal bests at the Oregon Relays two weekends ago.
 
The Vikings' 800-meter crew of Spencer Russell and Ben Richardson on the men's side, and Nyalual Beng and Kris Tollefson on the women's side, will also all compete at the OSU meet after all four had strong performances at the Triton Invitational.
 
Russell and Richardson ducked under 1:52 for the first time in their Portland State careers at the Triton Invitational, as they finished in 1:51.86 and 1:51.95, respectively, moving them up to third and fourth in the Big Sky this season.
 
Beng, meanwhile, set a new personal best in the women's 800 meters for the second straight meet at the Triton Invitational, finishing in 2:12.83 and moving her into the top 10 all-time in the event at Portland State. Tollefson also set a new seasonal best at the Triton Invitational last weekend, finishing in 2:14.92.
 
Freshman ChaQuinn Cook will also be coming off a new personal best in the women's triple jump at the Triton Invitational, and will compete in the event again at OSU. Cook jumped 40-07.75 (12.39m) at the Triton Invitational, improving on her season-opening mark of 40-03.25 (12.27m). Cook's season-opening mark gave her the Big Sky lead in the triple jump at the start of the season, but she's since lost the lead to Montana's Samantha Evans, who jumped 42-00.75 (12.82m) at the Oregon Relays.
 
The OSU meet gets underway Friday afternoon, with the men's hammer taking place off-site at Western Oregon University. Track events, meanwhile, will start on-site in Corvallis at 6:15 p.m. (PT) Friday, and resume at 1 p.m. (PT) Saturday. Field events will also take place in Corvallis Saturday and will start with the men's javelin at 10 a.m. (PT).
 
MEET INFORMATION:
April 29-30 – OSU High Performance Meet – Corvallis, Ore. (Whyte Track & Field Center)
 
LIVE RESULTS:
Live results from the OSU High Performance Meet will be available online. Fans can find the link to live results on the track & field schedule page on GoViks.com.
 
OSU HIGH PERFORMANCE MEET SCHEDULE:
Friday, April 29
Field Events
Start (PT)                  Event (PSU entries)
After W-Hammer       Men's Hammer – Follows the women (Dent)*
at 3:30 p.m.
 
* - Hammer competitions will be held at Western Oregon University
 
Running Events
Start (PT)                  Event (PSU entries)
6:15 p.m.                    Women's and Men's Combined 10,000 Meters (Women – Coleman, Martin, Reynolds; Men – Wikler)
7:30 p.m.                    Women's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase (De Luca)
7:50 p.m.                    Men's 5,000 Meters – 'A' Section (Cisneros, Seibert – Sections TBD)
8:45 p.m.                    Women's 5,000 Meters (Boman, Medved, Trapp)
9:10 p.m.                    Men's 5,000 Meters – 'B' Section (Cisneros, Seibert – Sections TBD)
 
Saturday, April 30
Field Events
Start (PT)                  Event (PSU entries)
10 a.m.                        Men's Javelin (Robinson, D.)
                                    Women's Javelin – Follows the men (Pellecer)
12 p.m.                       Women's High Jump (Garrity)
                                    Men's High Jump – Follows the women (Robinson, D., Stipic, Tufty)
12:30 p.m.                  Men's Long Jump (Schmidt, Toku)
                                    Men's Triple Jump – Follows the men's long jump (Toku)
1 p.m.                          Women's Long Jump (Richey)
                                    Women's Triple Jump – Follows the women's long jump (Cook, Richey)
2:45 p.m.                    Women's Discus (Johnson)
 
Running Events
Start (PT)                  Event (PSU entries)
1 p.m.                          Women's 4x100-Meter Relay (Portland State 'A')
1:20 p.m.                    Men's 800 Meters – Section 1 (Richardson, Russell – Sections TBD)
1:35 p.m.                    Women's 100-Meter Hurdles (Anderson)
1:50 p.m.                    Men's 110-Meter Hurdles (Robinson, K.)
2:05 p.m.                    Women's 400 Meters (Miller, Toliver)
2:15 p.m.                    Men's 400 Meters (Wood)
2:30 p.m.                    Women's 100 Meters (Diggs, Settle, Vinjamuri)
2:45 p.m.                    Men's 100 Meters (Schmidt)
3 p.m.                          Women's 800 Meters (Beng, Tollefson)
3:10 p.m.                    Men's 800 Meters – Section 2 (Richardson, Russell – Sections TBD)
3:45 p.m.                    Women's 200 Meters (Anderson, Diggs, Settle, Vinjamuri)
4 p.m.                          Men's 200 Meters (Pfefferkorn, Prince, Wood)
4:15 p.m.                    Women's 800 Meters – Invitational
4:25 p.m.                    Men's 800 Meters – Invitational
4:50 p.m.                    Women's 4x400-Meter Relay (Portland State 'A')
5 p.m.                          Men's 4x400-Meter Relay (Portland State 'A')
 
COMING UP:
The Vikings return to Hayward Field for the Oregon Twilight meet in Eugene, Ore., next Friday. The meet will conclude the regular season for the Vikings, as they'll head to the Big Sky Championships in Greeley, Colo., May 11-14.
 
TRITON INVITATIONAL RECAP:
Junior Genna Settle shaved close to a quarter of a second off her PR in the 200, giving her a PR in the event for the second straight week, as she led the Vikings at the Triton Invitational at Triton Track & Field Stadium in La Jolla, Calif., April 22-23. Settle ducked under 24 seconds for the first time in her career at the meet, finishing in 23.90 seconds. Settle now ranks second to only Weber State's Aaliyah Crawford within the Big Sky in the 200, and leads the Big Sky in the 100 after setting a personal best in the event at the Oregon Relays last week with her finish of 11.70 seconds. Junior Roazena Miller, meanwhile, added a Big Sky qualifying mark in the 400-meter hurdles, as she set a huge personal best in the event for the second straight week. Miller finished in a personal-best 1:01.85 at the meet, 1.25 seconds better than the PR of 1:03.12 she set a week earlier at the Oregon Relays. The Vikings also improved three of the team's Big Sky qualifying marks at the meet Saturday, starting with the men's 800 meters, where senior Spencer Russell and junior Ben Richardson each ducked under 1:52 for the first time in their careers. Russell finished in 1:51.86, while Richardson finished in 1:51.95, moving them up to third and fourth in the Big Sky this season, respectively. Freshman ChaQuinn Cook, meanwhile, won the triple jump with a personal-best jump of 40-07.25 (12.39m), improving on the 40-03.25 (12.27m) she jumped at the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open at the start of the season. Cook's jump narrowed the gap between her and Big Sky-leader Samantha Evans of Montana, who leads the Big Sky with a jump of 42-00.75 (12.82m).
 
OREGON RELAYS RECAP:
Junior Genna Settle had the best meet of her Portland State career at the Oregon Relays, April 15-16, at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Settle tied a personal best while winning the 100 meters in 11.70 seconds, and also placed second in the 200 meters in a personal-best 24.14 seconds. Settle's time in the 100 increased her Big Sky lead in the event at the time, while her time in the 200 meters moved her within a quarter of a second of the Big Sky lead. Fellow junior Akayla Anderson also lowered her Big Sky-leading time in the 100-meter hurdles, as she finished in a seasonal-best 13.96 seconds. Senior Kevin Robinson and junior Roazena Miller also set new personal bests in their own hurdle events at the meet. Robinson cracked 15 seconds for the first in his career in the men's 110-meter hurdles, as he finished in 14.98 seconds. Miller, meanwhile, finished the 400-meter hurdles in 1:03.12. Sophomore Hunter Pfefferkorn also added another Big Sky qualifying mark for the Vikings with an overall personal best in the 400 meters. Pfefferkorn finished the 400 in 48.66 seconds to give the Vikings a third qualifier in the men's 400, joining junior Mitchell Gable and senior Sheldon Prince. Fellow sophomore Nyalual Beng also set a personal best in the women's 800 meters for a second time this season, as she ducked under 2:14 in the 800 for the first time with her finish in 2:13.75. Senior Kris Tollefson tied her seasonal best in the 800 as well, as she finished in 2:16.10.
 
MT. SAC RELAYS RECAP:
Senior Amanda Boman shaved more than 34 seconds off her personal best in the 10,000 meters at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 14, putting her in good standing to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary at the end of May. Boman's time of 34:40.09 moved her up to 23rd in the NCAA West at the time, well within the top 48 runners in the west in the 10,000, which stands as the qualifying cutoff for the NCAA regional meet. Boman entered the meet with a PR of 35:14.14, which left her vulnerable to being passed by other runners later in the season. The final qualifying time in the 10,000 meters last season, for instance, was 34:54.16, and the final qualifying time two seasons ago was 35:00.46. Boman also moved up to third in the Big Sky this season with her time at the Mt. SAC Relays, making her a title contender going into the Big Sky Championships in four weeks.
 
JOHN KNIGHT TWILIGHT RECAP:
The Vikings' relay teams shined again at the John Knight Twilight, April 8, at McArthur Field in Monmouth, Ore., as the Vikings swept the women's 4x100, men's 4x100 and men's 4x400 as part of seven event wins for the Vikings at the meet. The Vikings' men's 4x100-meter relay set a new meet record while winning the event in 41.70 seconds, a week after the Vikings' women's 4x400-meter relay set a new school record in the event at the Mondo Mid-Major Team Challenge. The Vikings also blew away the fields in the men's 4x400 meters and women's 4x100 meters, winning each event by several seconds. The Viking women accounted for the Vikings' other four event wins as well, as they finished first in the 200, 400, 1,500 and 5,000 meters. Junior Whitney Diggs led a 1-2-3 Viking sweep in the 200 meters, as she won in 25.41 seconds, while freshman Rachel Vinjamuri and senior Dejuanae Toliver followed in second and third, respectively, in times of 25.64 and 25.84 seconds. Junior Roazena Miller also won the 400 meters with a huge personal best of 57.13 seconds, 1.19 second better than her previous best of 58.32, which she set at the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open at the start of the season. Sophomore Nyalual Beng also won the 1,500 meters by close to seven seconds, finishing in 4:43.68, while freshman Jocelyn Reynolds won the 5,000 meters in 19:16.59.
 
MONDO MID-MAJOR TEAM CHALLENGE RECAP:
The Portland State women's 4x400-meter relay team broke the school record in the event to highlight a competitive Mondo Mid-Major Team Challenge, a rare team-scored meet hosted by Sacramento State University at Hornet Stadium on April 2. The Vikings finished the 4x400 in 3:46.38, beating the previous school record of 3:46.96 that the Vikings set at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships last season. Roazena Miller, Dejuanae Toliver, Genna Settle and Rachel Vinjamuri set the record for the Vikings, and the foursome also moved up to third in the Big Sky this season in the event. As a team, the Viking women finished fourth out of four teams with 96 points at the meet, while the Viking men placed third out of three men's teams with 44 points. Additionally, the Vikings picked up four Big Sky qualifying marks at the meet, and improved on two others. Settle improved her qualifying times in both the 100 and 200 meters Saturday, finishing in 11.86 and 24.28 seconds, respectively. Fellow junior Akayla Anderson added another Big Sky qualifying standard for the Viking women, as she took over the Big Sky lead in the 100-meter hurdles with her finish in 13.98 seconds. The rest of the Vikings' new Big Sky qualifying standards came on the men's side, where Mitchell Gable and Sheldon Prince each ducked under the qualifying standard in the men's 400 meters, while Rockwell Tufty cleared the standard in the men's high jump. Gable and Prince picked up their qualifying times in the 400 meters while finishing second and fifth in the event in 48.05 and 48.90 seconds, respectively. Gable's time marked a huge personal best for the junior, as he shaved more than half a second off his old best of 48.65 seconds, and moved him up to third all-time in the event at Portland State. Tufty, meanwhile, cruised to a near-three-inch seasonal best in the high jump, as he cleared his first four heights on his first attempt and finished with a mark of 6-08.75 (2.05m).
 
SAN FRANCISCO STATE DISTANCE CARNIVAL RECAP:
Senior Amanda Boman took over the Big Sky lead in the 10,000 meters for a brief moment, as she finished the 10,000 in 35:14.14 at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival at Cox Stadium on April 1. Boman placed second in the 10,000 meters at the meet, narrowly missing out on the win as Kristen Rohde of High Performance West finished just over a second ahead of Boman in 35:13.12. Boman still finished as the top collegiate runner by over seven seconds, however, and moved up to fourth all-time in the 10,000 meters at Portland State with her time at the meet. Boman's time also gave her the Big Sky qualifying standard in the 10,000 meters, and redshirt freshman Sarah Medved and junior Cheryn Trapp joined Boman with qualifying times of their own. Medved and Trapp finished in 36:13.69 and 37:08.87, respectively, and moved up to seventh and 10th all-time in the 10,000 meters at Portland State as well. Senior Spencer Russell also lowered his Big Sky qualifying time in the 800 meters, finishing in 1:52.88, his best finish ever as a Viking. Sophomore Nyalual Beng and senior Kris Tollefson also debuted in the 800 meters in 2:14.02 and 2:16.10, respectively, while junior Ben Richardson debuted in the 1,500 meters in 3:54.63.
 
AZTEC INVITATIONAL RECAP:
Juniors Whitney Diggs and Genna Settle added two Big Sky qualifying standards for the Portland State track & field team at the Aztec Invitational, March 26, as the pair posted Big Sky qualifying marks in the 400 and 100 meters, respectively. Diggs posted her qualifying time while winning the event for the second straight week, and did so while making a huge improvement over her time from the season-opening meet a week ago. Diggs finished in 55.17 seconds at the Aztec Invitational, more than a second better than her time of 56.40 seconds at the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open. Settle, meanwhile, finished the 100 in a Big Sky-qualifying 11.87 seconds, as she made her debut in the event at the meet. Settle's time gave her the early season lead in the Big Sky by .14 seconds. Junior Akayla Anderson, sophomore Ta'mara Richey and freshman Raquel Pellecer also narrowly missed Big Sky qualifying marks in the 100-meter hurdles, triple jump and javelin, respectively. Anderson made her season debut in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.55 seconds, while Richey finished with a mark of 37-05.00 (11.40m) in the triple jump, and Pellecer finished with a mark of 132-06 (40.39m).
 
PACIFIC COMBINED EVENTS RECAP:
Senior Kevin Robinson crushed his personal best while winning the decathlon at the Pacific Combined Events, March 21-22, beating his old PR by 556 points to finish with a score of 6,274 points and meet the Big Sky qualifying standard in the event. Robinson closed the competition with decathlon PRs in the final seven events at Hanson Stadium in Forest Grove, Ore., and beat his previous-best first- and second-day scores in the decathlon at the meet. Additionally, Robinsons' 6,274 points move him up to seventh all-time in the decathlon at Portland State, as well as third in the Big Sky this season. Robinson won the decathlon by 149 points over Corban's Jason Bracken, who had led Robinson by 77 points after the first day of the competition.
 
LEWIS & CLARK SPRING BREAK OPEN RECAP:
The Vikings hit eight Big Sky qualifying standards and won eight events at their first meet of the outdoor season, as they opened their outdoor schedule at the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open, March 18-19, at Eldon Fix Track at Griswold Stadium in Portland, Ore. Senior Amanda Boman, junior Genna Settle, sophomore Ta'mara Richey and freshman ChaQuinn Cook hit qualifying standards in the women's 5,000 meters, 200 meters, long jump and triple jump, respectively, while sophomore Spenser Schmidt and freshman Jean-Luc Toku hit the standards in the men's long jump and triple jump, and senior Spencer Russell and junior Ben Richardson each ducked under the qualifying time in the men's 800 meters. Cook and Schmidt continued their strong finishes to the indoor season with their auto marks, as they are both coming off Big Sky individual titles during the indoor season. Cook, who won the Big Sky title in the indoor triple jump, won the outdoor triple jump at the meet with a personal-best mark of 40-03.25 (12.27m). Schmidt, meanwhile, followed his Big Sky title in the indoor long jump with a win in the outdoor long jump at the meet, finishing with a personal best of 24-03.50 (7.40) that beat the No. 2 mark at the meet by nearly a foot and a half. Schmidt's mark also put the sophomore in contention to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary, as it would have been enough to qualify him last year. Additionally, freshman Jean-Luc Toku set the best mark in the men's triple jump by a Viking in 43 years while winning the event with a personal best of 47-07.25 (14.51m). Toku now ranks second only to school record-holder Don Hall, who set the triple jump record at 48-06.00 (14.78m) in 1973.
 
2016 INDOOR RECAP:
The Portland State track & field team's 2016 indoor season ended with a pair of Big Sky titles for the Vikings, as sophomore Spenser Schmidt and freshman ChaQuinn Cook claimed the Big Sky titles in the men's long jump and women's triple jump, respectively. Schmidt won his Big Sky title with a huge personal best of 24-07.00 (7.49m), more than a foot better than his personal best entering the meet. Schmidt's win in the long jump marked the Vikings' first Big Sky indoor title in the event since 2003, and also gave Schmidt the best mark by a Viking since Brown set the school record at 24-08.50 (7.53m) that same year. Cook, meanwhile, became the first Viking female athlete to win a Big Sky title in the indoor triple jump since 2005. Cook beat her nearest competitor by over a foot, cracking 40 feet for a personal best of 40-01.50 (12.23m). The Vikings also got seven more All-Big Sky performances, including two each for sophomore Ta'mara Richey and junior Genna Settle. Richey placed third in both the long jump and triple jump at the meet, while Settle earned All-Big Sky honors with a second-place finish in the 60 meters and a third-place finish in the 200 meters. Settle now has five All-Big Sky honors in her Portland State career, the most of any current Viking athlete. Juniors Akayla Anderson and Whitney Diggs also earned All-Big Sky honors with second-place finishes in the 60-meter hurdles and 400 meters, respectively. Ben Richardson pulled off the biggest surprise at the Big Sky meet, as he finished third in the 800 meters to earn All-Big Sky honors in an event in which he entered the meet ranked 14th in the Big Sky. Senior Rockwell Tufty did not earn All-Big Sky honors as he placed fourth in the high jump, but broke the school record in the event with a clearance of 6-09.50 (2.07m). Tufty's record gives him sole possession of both the indoor and outdoor records at Portland State, making him indisputably the best high jumper in school history.
 
VIKINGS IN NCAA WEST TOP 50:
The Vikings have three athletes ranked in the top 50 in the NCAA west region, putting each of them in contention for qualifying for the NCAA West Preliminary at the end of May. The top 48 declared student-athletes in each event qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary, except in the combined events where the top 24 nationally qualify for the national meet. Senior Amanda Boman represents the Vikings' highest-ranked athlete in the NCAA west rankings, as she stands 31st in the women's 10,000 meters with her time of 34:40.09 at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 14. Sophomore Spenser Schmidt and freshman ChaQuinn Cook also rank in the top 48 in the west of the men's long jump and women's triple jump, respectively. Schmidt stands 41st in the men's long jump off his season-opening mark of 24-03.50 (7.40m) at the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open on March 19. Cook, meanwhile, moved into a tie for 41st in the west with her mark of 40-07.75 (12.39m) at the Triton Invitational on April 23.
 
BIG SKY QUALIFYING STANDARDS:
The Vikings have hit 20 Big Sky qualifying standards so far in the 2016 outdoor season, more than double the number the team hit during the entire 2016 indoor season. Qualifying marks assure an athlete of competing in the Big Sky Outdoor Championships, which will take place in Greeley, Colo., from May 11-14. The top 20 declared student-athletes in each event will qualify for the meet, except in the multi-events, where the top 16 declared student-athletes will make the meet.
 
PSU BIG SKY QUALIFYING MARKS (20):
Women (11):
Akayla Anderson – 100m Hurdles – 13.96 – Oregon Relays (4/16/16)
Amanda Boman – 5,000m – 17:08.25 – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)*
Amanda Boman – 10,000m – 34:40.09 – Mt. SAC Relays (4/14/16)*
ChaQuinn Cook – Triple Jump – 40-03.25 (12.27m) – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)
Whitney Diggs – 400m – 55.17 – Aztec Invitational (3/26/16)
Sarah Medved – 10,000m – 36:13.69 – San Francisco State Distance Carnival (4/1/16)*
Roazena Miller – 400m Hurdles – 1:01.85 – Triton Invitational (4/23/16)
Ta'mara Richey – Long Jump – 19-02.50 (5.85m) – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)
Genna Settle – 100m – 11.70 – Oregon Relays (4/16/16)
Genna Settle – 200m – 23.90 – Triton Invitational (4/23/16)
Cheryn Trapp – 10,000m – 37:08.87 – San Francisco State Distance Carnival (4/1/16)*
 
Men (9):
Mitchell Gable – 400m – 48.05 – Mondo Mid-Major Team Challenge (4/2/16)
Hunter Pfefferkorn – 400m – 48.66 – Oregon Relays (4/16/16)
Sheldon Prince – 400m – 48.90 – Mondo Mid-Major Team Challenge (4/2/16)
Ben Richardson – 800m – 1:51.95 – Triton Invitational (4/23/16)
Kevin Robinson – Decathlon – 6,274 points – Pacific Combined Events (3/22/16)
Spencer Russell – 800m – 1:51.86 – Triton Invitational (4/23/16)
Spenser Schmidt – Long Jump – 24-03.50 (7.40m) – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)
Jean-Luc Toku – Triple Jump – 47-07.25 (14.51m) – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)
Rockwell Tufty – High Jump – 6-08.75 (2.05m) – Mondo Mid-Major Team Challenge (4/2/16)
 
*Time cross-qualifies athlete for the 5,000 and 10,000 meters