PORTLAND, Ore.— Intrepid cyclists from all over the Pacific Northwest ride the more than 200 miles from Seattle to Portland each year for one or two days in the summer as part of the official STP race. For many runners, who spread the ride over two days, it’s a test of endurance to run 100 miles on consecutive days.

Portland State’s track team faces such a test this weekend, as the Vikings travel to the Husky Classic in Seattle, Feb. 11-12, and the Portland Indoor Four at the Chiles Center. from the University of Portland this Sunday. Several Vikings will double up this weekend, meaning they will race in Seattle and then return to race in Portland.

So might as well cycle more than 200 miles between races, right? Maybe not this time, but the Vikings have shown a lot of talent this season.

Katie Camarena and Jordan McIntosh will be two of the Vikings doubling this weekend, although they run their two races in Seattle. The northern city has been good for the couple. Camarena and MacIntosh swept the women’s and men’s 3k school records on their first trip to Seattle for the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 15. They then swept the mile records on their next trip to Seattle for the UW Invitational on January 29.

Camarena’s mile time of 4:34.26 from the UW Invitational still ranks third nationally in the event, and will likely see her compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships, March 11-12, in Birmingham. , To the. Only the top 16 athletes qualify nationally in each individual event, but Camarena’s time is faster than the 16th fastest time in each of the past three seasons.

MacIntosh wasn’t as happy with his time over the mile at the UW Invitational, even though he shaved five seconds off the school record at the event with a finish of 4:04.28. Still, MacIntosh — whose personal best is 4:03.98 from the 2021 Big Ten Championships while still at Minnesota — thinks he could run faster.

“J-Mac was a little salty after the last [the mile at the UW Invitational]”, Portland State Athletics Head Coach David Hepburn said of MacIntosh. “He’s got a little chip on his shoulder at the moment and hopefully that serves him well. Hopefully we can temper that and he uses that to his advantage. It should be an exciting race.”

Camarena and MacIntosh will start with the 3k on Friday, before moving to the mile on Saturday. Camarena set the 3k record at 9:16.35 at the UW indoor preview, finishing 23 seconds faster than the previous record. The 3k is actually Camarena’s lowest national ranking, though it’s not like it’s anything to be ashamed of considering his other rankings. Camarena places 43rd in the 3k, while she is 18th in the 5k (15:51.49, another school record) and third in the mile.

MacIntosh, meanwhile, set the men’s 3k record as he and his teammate Keynan Abdi both fell below the old record with their finishes in 8:07.94 and 8:14.04, respectively, four weeks ago.

Abdi will also be back in Seattle this weekend, as he runs the 5K on Friday. Abdi finished just over three seconds off the school record in the 5k the last time he competed in Seattle, as he crossed the finish line in 14:23.35 at UW Invitational.

Dom Morganti will join Abdi in the 5k this time around as one of many Vikings joining the regular Vikings cohort in Seattle this weekend. Morganti, Tatum Miller, hunter storm, james bottrill, Cam McChesney, Luke Ramirez and Drew Seidel will all make their season or career debut at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor facility.

“This weekend will be fun,” Hepburn said. “We have a bigger team. There will probably be a few more fireworks as a few more people are racing and in faster heats trying to show their stuff up there. Our athletes are really excited about that. . Coming up to UW is an exciting thing.”

Miller and Storm will join Camarena in the women’s 3K on Friday, while McChesney and Seidel will join MacIntosh on the men’s side of the race. McChesney entered the all-time top 10 in the 3k when he led a 1-2-3 at the Portland Indoor Two finishing in 8:31.19. Seidel was the third game in that 1-2-3, while Ramirez, who will run the mile in Seattle this weekend, was in the middle of the podium sweep.

McChesney, Seidel and Ramirez all ran the mile at the Portland Indoor Three last week, with Ramirez finishing first among the three in a personal best 4:15.71. That time marked a personal best five seconds for Ramirez and propelled him to 10th all-time in the men’s indoor mile at Portland State.

“Luke ran a pretty smart run at UP,” Hepburn said of last week’s encounter for Ramirez. “He was dead last for half that race, but it’s just kind of funny because we’re all looking around and he’s looking around like, ‘What? How is that possible? be in the right zone.’ And there you have it, these guys ran a 58 first quarter mile. It was a bit hot for this crew and that’s why people broke down and Luke ran a very smart race and ended up doing a nice little interior PR.

“He felt pretty good afterwards. Calm, cool, poised, that’s who Luke is, and he had a good run.”

Bottrill will be the last of the Seattle rookies to race this weekend, as he joins his sparring partner, Chase Lovercheck, in the men’s 800 meters on Saturday. The two faced off, albeit in different heats, in the 600 meters last weekend at UP. Lovercheck gave Bottrill a time to beat as he ran first, clocking 1:23.19, and Bottrill dipped below with a 1:22.75 finish. Bottrill and Lovercheck now rank fourth and sixth all-time in the 600 meters, respectively, after last weekend.

Who will have the upper hand in the 800 meters will be determined this weekend. Either way, the pair work well on each other, both when training together and when racing against each other.

“They’re so close and so pals. Chase supports James all the time. Every time we’re like, ‘Is James going to be able to run?’ Chase is the first to say “Yeah, and he’s faster than me. I’m stronger than him, but he’s faster. “That’s kind of who they are,” Hepburn said of the dynamic between the two riders.

Bottrill and Lovercheck will run the 800 meters on Saturday afternoon, then double the 800 on Sunday at UP. Even with Jordan Gloden and Harley Montgomerywho have busy competitions in Seattle before competing again on Sunday.

The stacking of consecutive days is intentional by Hepburn and his fellow coaches, as it gives the Vikings a chance to practice what it would be like to progress through a semi-final and final on consecutive days since they’ll do it. at the Big Sky Indoor Championships in two weeks.

Sunday’s encounter at UP will also see the majority of the Vikings move a distance. In the last two trips to Center Chiles, the Vikings have mostly competed in the 3k, especially on the women’s side. This time around, nine Vikings will run in the women’s mile, while seven Vikings will run in the men’s mile. Again, the choice is intentional, as it gives the Vikings a chance to work on their speed after running a pair of 3k.

Thus, the Vikings will have plenty of races to fill their weekend. Maybe not a 200+ person bike race between Seattle and Portland. At least not this weekend.

MEET INFO

February 11-12 – Husky Classic – Seattle, Washington (Dempsey Indoor)
February 13 – Portland Indoor Four – Portland, Oregon (Chiles Center)

HUSKY CLASSIC SCHEDULE
Friday February 11
Time event (PSU inputs)

2:45 p.m. Men’s 60m hurdles – Preliminaries (Gloden)
3:00 p.m. Women’s 3,000 meters – Heats 1-6 (Camarena, Miller, Storm – Heats TBD)
4:15 p.m. Men’s 3,000 meters – heats 1-5 (MacIntosh, McChesney, Seidel – heats TBD)
5:15 p.m. Men’s 60-meter hurdles – Finals (Gloden, if he qualifies)
6:30 p.m. Men’s 5,000 meters – Heats 1-3 (Abdi, Morganti – Heats TBD)
7:20 p.m. Men’s 200 meters (Gloden, Montgomery)
8:15 p.m. 5,000 meters invitational men (Abdi, Morganti – rounds to be determined)
8:35 p.m. Invitational women’s 3,000 meters (Camarena, Miller, Storm – rounds to be determined)
9:00 p.m. Men’s 3,000-meter invitational (MacIntosh, McChesney, Seidel – rounds TBD)

Saturday February 12
Time event (PSU inputs)

10 a.m. Men’s Long Jump (Gloden)
11:45 a.m. Men’s 60m – Preliminaries (Gloden)
12:10 p.m. 400 meters men (Montgomery)
12:30 p.m. Men’s 60m – Final (Gloden, if he passes)
12:40 p.m. Women’s Mile – Heats 1-8 (Camarena – Heats TBD)
1:40 p.m. Women’s Invitational Mile (Camarena – Heats TBD)
1:50 p.m. Men’s Mile – Series 1-7 (MacIntosh, Ramirez – Series TBD)
2:40 p.m. Men’s Invitational Mile (MacIntosh, Ramirez – rounds TBD)
3 p.m. 800 meters men (Bottrill, Lovercheck)

PORTLAND INDOOR FOUR PROGRAM
Sunday February 13
Time event (PSU inputs)

11 a.m. 3,000 meters women (brown)
A Thousand Women (Bromham, Brooks, Faust, Hackett, Irving, Newville, Owen, Swain, Tafoya)
Male Mile (Grams, McChesney, Schulte, Shedd, Snyder, Solano, A., Solano, E.)
800 meters women (Jones, Marcil)
800 meters men (Bottrill, Lovercheck, Moller, Muse, Ramirez, Salcido, Seidel)
200 meters men (Gloden, Montgomery)