Complete Meet Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — It's time to crown champions for the Portland State track & field team as the Vikings head down to the Big Sky Championships in Greeley, Colo., May 11-14 at Nottingham Field.
 
The Vikings head into the Big Sky meet favorites in some events and contenders in several others with a number of athletes ranked atop or near the top of the Big Sky Conference in their respective events.
 
Junior Genna Settle could be set up for a big meet, as she leads the Big Sky in the 100 meters while also ranking second in the 200 meters, and will also run on the Vikings' 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay teams. Settle has led the Big Sky in the 100 since the second week of the outdoor season, and heads into the meet with the two best times in the 100 this season. Settle's time of 11.70 seconds at the Oregon Relays leads the Big Sky by .06 seconds over Northern Colorado's Moriah Zachary, while Zachary's teammate, Alivia Ayres-Perry, ranks third in 11.78 seconds.
 
If Settle can claim the Big Sky title in the 100, it'll mark a return to the top of the showcase sprint for the Vikings. The Vikings won six straight women's 100-meter titles from 2008-13, and nine of 10 from 2004-13, but haven't won one since.
 
Settle, meanwhile, ranks as a close second to Weber State's Aaliyah Crawford in the 200 meters, as Settle's seasonal best of 23.90 seconds ranks .09 off Crawford's conference-leading time of 23.81. If Settle can pull an upset of Crawford at the Big Sky meet and claim the title in the 100 meters, then she'll join Ena Shemi in 2005, Jernise Saunders in 2009 and Karene King in 2011 as the only Vikings to sweep the 100- and 200-meter titles at a single championship meet.
 
Besides Settle, sophomore Spenser Schmidt and freshman ChaQuinn Cook also rank second in the men's long jump and women's triple jump, respectively, after winning Big Sky titles in the indoor version of each event back in February.
 
Schmidt ranks just 1.5 inches off the lead in the men's long jump, as his mark of 24-03.50 (7.40m) stands just behind Idaho's Arphaxad Carroll's leading mark of 24-05.00 (7.44m).
 
Cook, meanwhile, will most likely be in a two-athlete race for the Big Sky crown in the women's triple jump, as she and Montana's Samantha Evans are the only two athletes within the Big Sky to have surpassed 40 feet this season. Evans leads the Big Sky with a jump of 42-00.75 (12.82m), 15 inches ahead of Cook's best mark this season of 40-07.75 (12.39m).
 
Junior Akayla Anderson also ranks close to the lead in the women's 100-meter hurdles with her seasonal best of 13.94 seconds, just .05 behind Sacramento State's Kristen Robinson, who leads the Big Sky with a time of 13.89 seconds. Sacramento State's Stephanie Blumm and Olivia Leavitt also rank close to the lead in the 100-meter hurdles, as they stand at 13.95 and 13.97, respectively, setting up a four-way race for the title. Anderson stands as the only one of the four to break 14 seconds multiple times this season, however, and she's done it at three of the five meets at which she competed this season.
 
Junior Whitney Diggs also ranks third in the women's 400 meters this season, and has been a perennial contender in the indoor and outdoor 400 meters throughout her three years at Portland State so far. Diggs led the Big Sky in the indoor 400 going into the Big Sky meet in February, and finished second in the event to earn her second All-Big Sky honor in the indoor 400 in her career.
 
Senior Amanda Boman also stands as a contender in the women's 5,000 meters, which she will run in over the 10,000 meters which she also ranks highly in. Boman ranks fourth in the Big Sky in the 5,000 meters off her time of 16:39.82 at the OSU High Performance Meet two weekends ago. Boman's time at OSU put her just under 30 seconds off the Big Sky leader, Idaho's Kinsey Gomez at 16:11.17.
 
A PR in the 5,000 could put Boman at least on the podium at the Big Sky meet, and could also make her a double qualifier for the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds at the end of May.
 
Boman stands as one of the Vikings in contention for a spot at the regional meet, as she ranks 35th in the west in the women's 10,000 meters, well within the top 48 that will advance to regionals when the qualifying period ends this weekend. Besides Boman, Schmidt and Cook also currently rank in the top 48 of their events, as Schmidt ranks tied for 43rd in the men's long jump, while Cook ranks tied for 45th in the women's triple jump.
 
Settle could also move into the top 48 in the 100 or 200 meters with a good time in either event at the Big Sky meet. The 48th-best time in the 100 going into the weekend stands at 11.59, .11 ahead of Settle's current best this season of 11.70. Additionally, the 48th-best time in the 200 currently stands at 23.73 seconds, .17 ahead of Settle's current best of 23.90.
 
Settle will have her chance to hit those times when the Big Sky meet starts up this weekend. The heptathlon and decathlon competitions will open the meet on Wednesday and Thursday, with Portland State's Kevin Robinson competing in the decathlon, while the rest of the meet gets underway on Friday.
 
MEET INFORMATION:
May 11-14 – Big Sky Championships – Greeley, Colo. (Nottingham Field)
 
LIVE RESULTS:
Live results from the Big Sky Championships will be available. Fans can find the link to live results on the track & field schedule page on GoViks.com.
 
LIVE VIDEO:
The Big Sky Championships will be streamed online over all four days of the meet. Fans can find the link to live results on the track & field schedule page on GoViks.com.
 
BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE:
Wednesday, May 11
Decathlon – Day 1
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU entries)
10 a.m.                        100 Meters (Heat 1 – Robinson, K.)
                                    Long Jump (Robinson, K.)
                                    Shot Put (Robinson, K.)
                                    High Jump (Robinson, K.)
                                    400 Meters (Section 1 – Robinson, K.)
 
Thursday, May 12
Decathlon – Day 2
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU entries)
10 a.m.                        110-Meter Hurdles (Heat 1 – Robinson, K.)
                                    Discus (Robinson, K.)
                                    Pole Vault (Robinson, K.)
                                    Javelin (Robinson, K.)
                                    1,500 Meters (Robinson, K.)
 
Friday, May 13
Field Events
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU entries)
11:30 a.m.                  Men's Long Jump (Flight 2 – Schmidt, Toku)
12 p.m.                       Women's High Jump (Garrity)
2 p.m.                          Women's Discus (Flight 2 – Johnson)
2:30 p.m.                    Women's Long Jump (Flight 2 – Richey)
 
Running Events
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU entries)
2:15 p.m.                    Women's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase – Final (De Luca)
2:40 p.m.                    Men's 110-Meter Hurdles – Trial (Heat 3 – Robinson, K.)
3 p.m.                          Women's 100-Meter Hurdles – Trial (Heat 2 – Anderson)
3:15 p.m.                    Men's 400 Meters – Trial (Heat 2 – Gable, Pfefferkorn)
3:30 p.m.                    Women's 400 Meters – Trial (Heat 1 – Toliver, Vinjamuri; Heat 2 – Diggs)
3:45 p.m.                    Men's 100 Meters – Trial (Heat 2 – Schmidt)
4 p.m.                          Women's 100 Meters – Trial (Heat 2 – Settle)
4:15 p.m.                    Men's 800 Meters – Trial (Heat 1 – Richardson; Heat 3 – Russell)
4:30 p.m.                    Women's 800 Meters – Trial (Heat 1 – Beng; Heat 2 – Tollefson)
5 p.m.                          Women's 400-Meter Hurdles – Trial (Heat 1 – Miller)
5:20 p.m.                    Men's 200 Meters – Trial (Heat 1 – Prince)
5:30 p.m.                    Women's 200 Meters – Trial (Heat 1 – Settle; Heat 3 – Diggs)
6:30 p.m.                    Women's 10,000 Meters – Final (Coleman, Martin, Medved, Trapp)
 
Saturday, May 14
Field Events
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU entries)
10 a.m.                        Women's Triple Jump (Flight 2 – Cook, Richey)
10 a.m.                        Women's Javelin (Flight 1 – Buss; Flight 2 – Pellecer)
11 a.m.                        Men's Hammer Throw (Flight 1 – Dent)
12 p.m.                       Men's High Jump (Robinson, D., Stipic, Tufty)
1:30 p.m.                    Men's Triple Jump (Flight 2 – Toku)
 
Running Events
Start (MT)                 Event (PSU entries)
12 p.m.                       Men's 4x100-Meter Relay – Final (Section 2 – Portland State 'A' – Schmidt, Prince, Pfefferkorn, Gable)
12:10 p.m.                  Women's 4x100-Meter Relay – Final (Section 2 – Portland State 'A' – Anderson, Settle, Vinjamuri, Diggs)
12:55 p.m.                  Men's 110-Meter Hurdles – Final
1:05 p.m.                    Women's 100-Meter Hurdles – Final
1:15 p.m.                    Men's 400 Meters – Final
1:25 p.m.                    Women's 400 Meters – Final
1:35 p.m.                    Men's 100 Meters – Final
1:45 p.m.                    Women's 100 Meters – Final
1:55 p.m.                    Men's 800 Meters – Final
2:05 p.m.                    Women's 800 Meters – Final
2:15 p.m.                    Men's 400-Meter Hurdles – Final
2:25 p.m.                    Women's 400-Meter Hurdles – Final
2:35 p.m.                    Men's 200 Meters – Final
2:45 p.m.                    Women's 200 Meters – Final
2:55 p.m.                    Men's 5,000 Meters – Final (Cisneros)
3:20 p.m.                    Women's 5,000 Meters – Final (Boman, Medved, Trapp)
3:45 p.m.                    Men's 4x400-Meter Relay – Final (Section 2 – Portland State 'A' – Pfefferkorn, Robinson, K., Gable, Prince)
4 p.m.                          Women's 4x400-Meter Relay – Final (Section 2 – Portland State 'A' – Miller, Vinjamuri, Settle, Diggs)
4:30 p.m.                   Awards Ceremony
 
COMING UP:
If the Vikings have athletes finish in the top 48 in the NCAA west after the Big Sky Championships, then they'll qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in Lawrence, Kan., May 26-28.
 
OSU HIGH PERFORMANCE MEET RECAP:
The Vikings picked up four Big Sky qualifying marks at the OSU High Performance Meet in Corvallis, Ore., April 29-30, giving the Vikings 24 conference auto marks with the Big Sky Championships less than two weeks to go. Spenser Schmidt (men's 100 meters), Raquel Pellecer (women's javelin), Kevin Robinson (men's 110-meter hurdles) and Sydney Johnson (women's discus) added the qualifying marks for the Vikings. Schmidt, who has already qualified for the conference meet in the long jump, hit the Big Sky auto mark in the 100 meters with an overall personal best of 10.73 seconds. Schmidt had been dancing around the 10.75 he needed to qualify for the Big Sky meet with times of 10.83, 10.81, 10.82 and 10.80 this season, but couldn't quite break through until the OSU meet. Pellecer had a similar break through come in the javelin, as she hit the Big Sky qualifying mark after coming close earlier in the season with a throw of 139-03.50 (42.45m). Pellecer had been as close as two feet to the qualifying mark with her previous season best of 135-08 (41.35), but had been going the other way before hitting the qualifying mark at OSU. Robinson also came through with big a personal best in the 110-meters hurdles to hit the qualifying mark with his finish in 14.74 seconds, while Johnson hit the qualifying mark in the discus with a throw of 148-06.25 (45.26m). Outside of the qualifying marks, junior Ben Richardson improved his qualifying time in the 800 meters, as he ducked under 1:52 for the second straight week with a personal-best finish of 1:51.90. Fellow junior Akayla Anderson also lowered her qualifying time in the 100-meter hurdles as well, as she finished in 13.94 seconds Saturday, .02 better than the 13.96 she ran at the Oregon Relays two weekends ago.
 
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 35th 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, meanwhile, rank in the top 48 in the west of the men's long jump and women's triple jump, respectively. Schmidt stands 42nd 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 ranks tied for 43rd in the west in the women's triple jump with her mark of 40-07.75 (12.39m) at the Triton Invitational on April 23.
 
BIG SKY QUALIFYING STANDARDS:
The Vikings hit 24 Big Sky qualifying standards during the 2016 outdoor season, nearly triple the number the team hit during the 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 (24):
Women (13):
Akayla Anderson – 100m Hurdles – 13.94 – OSU High Performance Meet (4/30/16)
Amanda Boman – 5,000m – 16:39.82 – OSU High Performance Meet (4/29/16)*
Amanda Boman – 10,000m – 34:40.09 – Mt. SAC Relays (4/14/16)*
ChaQuinn Cook – Triple Jump – 40-07.75 (12.39m) – Triton Invitational (4/23/16)
Whitney Diggs – 400m – 55.17 – Aztec Invitational (3/26/16)
Sydney Johnson – Discus – 148-06.25 (45.26m) – OSU High Performance Meet (4/30/16)
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)
Raquel Pellecer – Javelin – 139-03.50 (42.45m) – OSU High Performance Meet (4/30/16)
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 (11):
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 – 1:51.90 – OSU High Performance Meet (4/30/16)
Kevin Robinson – 110m Hurdles – 14.74 – OSU High Performance Meet (4/30/16)
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 – 100m – 10.73 – OSU High Performance Meet (4/30/16)
Spenser Schmidt – Long Jump – 24-03.50 (7.40m) – Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open (3/19/16)