PORTLAND, Ore. — A new year brings with it a new season for the Portland State track & field program as the Vikings open their 2026 indoor season this Friday and Saturday at the Silver & Blue Invitational in Reno, Nev.
The season opener brings extra excitement for the Vikings, who enter their first track season under new head coach Joseph Blue. The Vikings’ new coach welcomes that excitement, though is quick to contextualize it as the first step in a long process for his team and his athletes.
“We’re just trying to get our feet wet. There are no expectations. I just want them to go out there and race hard, throw hard and execute the things that we’ve been working on,” Blue said of the team’s season opener.
It’ll be the first official action for the non-distance runners in the Viking program since last May’s Big Sky Outdoor Championships. The Vikings’ throwers, jumpers, sprinters and hurdlers worked with their new coaches during the fall. Blue said the team trained throughout October together, then three weeks in November.
The seven-week training period was shorter than Blue would have liked, but productive. The short period of training means the Vikings will be still looking to build through the early part of their season.
“The first half of the season will be us still practicing. As we get through the end of February and we get to outdoor, our team will get more whole. But as we start right now, we’re still in preseason mode,” Blue said.
Some of the Vikings will be ready to go from this weekend’s season opener. Blue said Daniel Coppedge, who broke the school records in the weight throw and hammer last indoor and outdoor season, respectively, should be ready to go.
Coppedge will compete in the weight throw Friday morning. He set the record in the event with a throw of 56-00.00 (17.07m) at the Riverfront Invitational last season, though that isn’t even a personal best for Coppedge. His personal best came when he was competing unattached at the PSU vs. UP Dual Meet where he threw 56-02.00 (17.11m).
Meanwhile, Blue called Tori Forst “the best athlete” across both the men’s and women’s teams at Portland State. Forst should be ready to make noise for the Vikings this weekend. She had her 2025 outdoor season shut down early due to injury, but before then, had entered the top 10 all-time in the indoor 60 meters when she finished in 7.54 seconds at the Big Sky Indoor Championships.
Forst also recorded an overall win in the 200 meters at the Oregon Preview during the outdoor season, finishing in a personal best of 24.40 seconds.
Forst is entered in the prelims of the women’s 60 meters Friday alongside teammates Sienna Rosario and Aida Wheat. Forst will also run the 200 meters Saturday with Rosario, Savannah Beasley and Ashley Peterson.
Some of the Vikings’ distance runners who had strong cross country seasons should also be ready to continue that this weekend. Emma Stolte ranks chief among those after she posted five top 10 finishes this past fall, including a ninth-place finish at the Big Sky Championships to earn all-conference honors.
Stolte is entered in the women’s mile Friday alongside Libby Fox and Sam Sharp. She’ll double back in the 800 meters Saturday, an event in which she ranks eighth all-time at Portland State.
Amir Ahmed returns to the middle distances after running cross country in the fall. He’ll chase a school record in the 600 meters Saturday, an event in which he ranks third all-time after finishing in 1:20.85 at the UW Preview last season. Nate Boyer set the current 600-meter record at 1:19.48 in 2006.
Ahmed will also run in the 1,000 meters Friday. Fellow men’s distance runners Abdinajib Abade, Luke Gillingham and Farhan Ibrahim will also run in the mile Friday.
More Vikings will make either their season or career debuts this weekend. Blue cautioned all of them, no matter where they are in their training, to not overextend themselves.
“All your best PRs are going to happen when you were confident and relaxed. It’ll never happen by running as hard as you can or trying to throw as far as you can. That’s when bad habits creep in. A lot of our sport is reflex, muscle memory and reactive strength. That’s all it is. And mental. If you can do that and do what you trained, it’ll happen,” Blue said.
That can be tough to keep in mind during a season opener when athletes are eager to prove themselves. But no one hits their New Year’s resolutions by the second week of January. If you did, then you chose too easy of a resolution.
“I want them to stay in their process. Because [this meet] is not the result. I don’t care what they finish here. It’s cool to see the result, but that result is just part of the process for the year,” Blue said.
MEET INFO
Jan. 9-10 – Silver & Blue Invitational – Reno, Nev. (Reno Sparks Convention Center)
FOLLOW ALONG
Live Results
MEET SCHEDULE
Friday, Jan. 9
Time (PT) – Event (PSU Entries)
10 a.m. – Women’s Weight Throw (Flight 1 of 1 – Fisher)
~11 a.m. – Men’s Weight Throw (Flight 1 of 1 – Coppedge, Green)
2 p.m. – Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles – Prelims (Heat 3 of 3 – Beasley)
2:15 p.m. – Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles – Prelims (Heat 1 of 2 – Johnson, Sweeney)
2:25 p.m. – Women’s 60 Meters – Prelims (Heat 1 of 3 – Forst; Heat 2 of 3 – Rosario, Wheat)
2:40 p.m. – Men’s 60 Meters – Prelims (Heat 3 of 3 – Brost, Mcdonald)
2:55 p.m. – Women’s Mile (Heat 1 of 1 – Fox, Sharp, Stolte)
3:05 p.m. – Men’s Mile (Heat 1 of 1 – Abade, Gillingham, Ibrahim)
3:15 p.m. – Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles – Final
3:20 p.m. – Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles – Final
3:25 p.m. – Men’s 60 Meters – Final
3:30 p.m. – Women’s 60 Meters – Final
3:35 p.m. – Women’s 1,000 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Butterfield)
3:40 p.m. – Men’s 1,000 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Ahmed)
Saturday, Jan. 10
Time (PT) – Event (PSU Entries)
10 a.m. – Women’s Shot Put (Flight 1 of 1 – Fisher)
11 a.m. – Women’s 400 Meters (Heat 2 of 2 – Peterson)
11:15 a.m. – Men’s 400 Meters (Heat 1 of 3 – Johnson; Heat 2 of 3 – Payne; Heat 3 of 3 – Cadengo, Jones)
11:30 a.m. – Women’s 800 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Stolte)
11:35 a.m. – Men’s 800 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Abade)
11:40 a.m. – Women’s 600 Meters (Heat 3 of 3 – Butterfield)
11:50 a.m. – Men’s 600 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Ahmed)
11:55 a.m. – Women’s 200 Meters (Heat 2 of 8 – Forst; Heat 4 of 8 – Rosario; Heat 5 of 8 – Beasley; Heat 7 of 8 – Peterson)
~12 p.m. – Men’s Triple Jump (Niyongere)
12:30 p.m. – Men’s 200 Meters (Heat 2 of 8 – Cadengo, Sweeney; Heat 3 of 8 – Jones; Heat 4 of 8 – Payne; Heat 5 of 8 – Mcdonald; Heat 8 of 8 – Brost)
1 p.m. – Women’s 3,000 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Fox, Sharp)
1:20 p.m. – Men’s 3,000 Meters (Gillingham, Ibrahim)
