Portland State University’s track and field team saw several standout performances from its freshmen athletes at the PNW Invite in Corvallis, Ore., according to a March 21 announcement. Jack Macdonald tied the school’s freshman record in the men’s 100 meters with a time of 10.78 seconds, matching the mark set by Jake Ovgard in 2012. This achievement came just one day after Macdonald broke the freshman record in the 200 meters with a time of 21.46 seconds.
The event highlighted strong contributions from both new and veteran members of the Vikings squad. Emma Stolte, despite battling illness earlier in the week, followed up her school-record performance in Friday’s 1,500 meters by finishing third overall and second among collegiate runners in Saturday’s invitational section of the women’s 800 meters with a personal outdoor best of 2:10.64. Stolte’s time was less than two seconds off the outdoor school record.
Other freshmen also made their mark during the meet. Beckett Stolp improved his own freshman top-10 time in the men’s 100 meters to finish fifth on Portland State’s all-time freshman list at that distance. Hannah Butterfield set a personal best and moved into ninth place on the freshman top-10 list for the women’s collegiate section of the 800 meters.
Additional notable performances included junior Amir Ahmed placing third in the men’s invitational section of the 800 meters with a season-best time, while Ari Smith finished second among collegians and improved his standing on Portland State’s freshman top-10 list for that event. In field events, Henry Glad won his flight in javelin with an improved throw over last week’s mark, and Ocean Rideout placed fourth in women’s long jump with a new personal best.
The Vikings will continue their spring break competition schedule next Saturday at the Willamette Invitational in Salem.
