Emma Stolte achieved a milestone for the Portland State track and field team at the Big Sky Indoor Championships in Pocatello, Idaho. On Saturday, Stolte scored points in both the women’s 800 meters and mile events, becoming the first Viking since 2007 to do so at a single conference championship.
Stolte began her day with a sixth-place finish in the mile, clocking 4:56.07. The race was dominated by Northern Arizona University’s Emma Stutzman, Hayley Burns, Ava Mitchell, and Payton Godsey, who took the top four spots. Weber State’s Saga Hagelin finished fifth.
Later in the day, Stolte competed in the finals of the 800 meters after qualifying with the fifth-fastest time on Friday. Despite setting a school record earlier this season with a time of 2:08.51, she faced challenges at the start of Saturday’s final when positioned on the inside rail and was overtaken early by other runners. She finished eighth with a time of 2:14.95.
Stolte is now part of Portland State history as no athlete from the program had scored in both events at an indoor championship since Staci Bielenberg and Amanda Kamm did so in 2007. Additionally, she is the first Viking to score in the women’s indoor mile since Amber Rozcicha in 2013.
Her achievements this season include moving up to second all-time for Portland State in both the mile and 3k during indoor competition. In cross country last fall, Stolte tied a program record with five top-10 finishes during the 2025 season and earned all-conference honors after placing ninth at the Big Sky Championships.
In other results for Portland State athletes on Saturday, Abdinajib Abade placed second in his section of the men’s mile with a time of 4:16.31 but finished tenth overall. Teammates Ari Smith and Luke Gillingham followed in sixteenth and eighteenth place respectively.
Jackson Mathers recorded twelfth place in triple jump with a best mark of 44-03.25 (13.49m). Freshman Farhan Ibrahim ran eighth fastest among competitors in his event but finished twentieth overall in men’s 3k at 8:58.78.
The only seasonal best performance came from Jaelyn Sayler who improved her shot put mark to 36-06.25 (11.13m), surpassing her previous week’s result by five inches and finishing twenty-third overall; Natalie Fisher placed just ahead at twenty-second.
Portland State will begin its outdoor track and field season on March 14 at George Fox University’s Rich Allen Classic.
