Portland State University’s track and field team will close out its indoor regular season at the GFU Indoor #2 meet on Saturday in Newberg, Oregon. Head coach Joseph Blue noted that last week’s Husky Classic left the team wanting more.
“We weren’t satisfied with how we performed,” Blue said of the meet.
Blue added that this feeling could serve as motivation for the athletes as they head into their final regular season competition before conference selections are finalized. Decisions on who will advance to the conference meet will be made after Saturday’s events.
Freshman Jack Macdonald is set to compete again after winning the 200 meters at the Husky Classic with a personal best of 21.89 seconds. He also ran in the 60 meters but did not surpass his personal best of 6.93 seconds from an earlier invitational, which ranks him sixth all-time at Portland State. Macdonald is entered in the fastest preliminary heat for the 60 meters this weekend.
Other teammates including Beckett Stolp, Dillon Brost, Aidan Sweeney, Carson Schall, Phoenix Bakkum, and Damien Parrow will participate in later heats of the same event. Sweeney may compete in both the open 60 and prelims for the 60-meter hurdles. Both Sweeney and Savannah Beasley have improved their personal bests in hurdles at each meet so far this season; Sweeney most recently clocked 8.53 seconds and Beasley reached 9.29 seconds at last week’s event.
Sweeney is now just two-hundredths of a second away from entering Portland State’s all-time top ten for men’s indoor 60-meter hurdles.
Field events are also expected to play a key role on Saturday as athletes look to secure spots on the conference roster. Daniel Coppedge recently broke his own school record in weight throw with a mark of 57-11 (17.65m) and is scheduled to compete once more before heading to next week’s Big Sky Indoor Championships.
On the women’s side, Avonlea Edwards and Natalie Fisher are entered in both weight throw and shot put events while Jaelyn Sayler joins them for shot put only. Fisher holds Portland State’s freshman record in shot put with a distance of 42-07 (12.98m). Edwards achieved her top weight throw mark this season during one appearance at an earlier invitational with a throw of 41-06.5 (12.66m).
Coach Blue commented on Sayler’s recent progress: “Jaelyn had one of her best practices the whole year today. She gets another opportunity. She had her first opportunity last week. She did okay. But now she gets another opportunity this week, close to home.”
Sayler debuted for PSU last week by throwing 35-10½ (10.93m) but has previously recorded throws nearly twenty inches farther.
In jumps, Ocean Rideout and Akanesi Latu-Alves will return after setting new personal records last weekend; Jackson Mathers will participate in both high jump and long jump alongside Parrow.
Athletes performing well on Saturday can secure their places at the Big Sky Indoor Championships, scheduled from February 26–28 in Pocatello, Idaho.
