Portland State University’s track and field athletes achieved a series of strong performances at the Portland Indoor 2 meet, held Sunday at the Chiles Center. The event took place as fans prepared for Super Bowl LX, with many in attendance wearing Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots jerseys.
Ari Smith led the Vikings by winning the men’s mile, finishing with a personal best of 4:17.21. This time was two seconds faster than his previous season opener and placed him third among Portland State freshmen in the event. Smith finished just over a second behind teammate Nick Moore’s freshman record set last year.
Farhan Ibrahim contributed to the team’s success in the mile by finishing third with a personal best of 4:18.77, moving up to fifth on the program’s freshman top ten list. Landen Sandoval also improved his performance in the mile, lowering his time by more than six seconds from two weeks prior.
In women’s events, Savannah Beasley secured second place in the 300 meters with a time of 42.52 seconds, making her seventh all-time at that distance for Portland State. Beasley was one of three Vikings to win heats in this event; Ocean Rideout and Lydia Medina also won their respective heats, both setting new personal records.
Other notable performances included Irina López placing second in the women’s 600 meters with a personal best of 1:37.14, moving her up to third all-time at Portland State in that event. Irene Montoliu Tio, who holds the school record for the women’s 600 meters, opened her season after an injury with a time of 1:41.01.
On the men’s side, Phoenix Bakkum finished third overall in the 300 meters at 38.22 seconds while Beckett Stolp and Carson Schall each won their heats. JD Arthur made significant progress in the men’s 600 meters by cutting more than six seconds off his previous best.
Ian Parks delivered a close victory in his heat of the men’s 800 meters with a time of 2:01.32, narrowly beating Lewis & Clark’s Quinn Higgins and securing second place overall.
The Vikings will compete next at Seattle’s Dempsey Indoor Facility during the Husky Classic on February 13-14.
Women’s results included top finishes from Beasley (second in 300m), López (second in 600m), and Zarrin (fifth in mile). On the men’s side, Smith won the mile while Bakkum placed third in the 300m and Parks finished second overall in the 800m.
