MEN’S BASKETBALL
John Olinger carries Olympic torch
Portland State basketball player John Olinger will carry the 2002 Winter Olympic Torch Tuesday as it passed through his hometown of Salem.
Olinger, a freshman guard on the Viking basketball team, is a 2001 graduate of South Salem High School. He earned the honor of carrying the torch after being nominated by Capitol Chevrolet of Salem.
Olinger, who is redshirting in the Viking program this season, was the leading scorer in last year’s Oregon 4A State Championship Basketball Tournament, averaging 21.3 points as his South Salem team finished fourth in state. He earned first team All-League and All-State Tournament honors.
HEADLINES
INDOOR TRACK
Big debuts for Harvey sisters in Seattle
The Portland State track and field squad returned home with six wins and four Big Sky qualifiers at the Husky Scoring Track and Field Meet in Seattle, Wash. over the weekend. The Vikings were competing against Oregon, Washington, Portland and Western Oregon in dual meet scoring during their first major competition of the 2002 indoor season.
Sisters Keisha and Kerine Harvey highlighted the day for the PSU track and field team. Keisha Harvey won the long jump and triple jump events while Kerine Harvey won the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. She automatically qualified for the Big Sky Championships with a high jump of 18-5 and in the long jump with a mark of 38-11.5. Kerine also ran in the 200-meter dash and finished ninth overall.
Other winners on the day for Portland State included Lisa Gunderson and Ryan Brown. Gunderson automatically qualified in the high jump with a jump of 5-7. Brown won the men’s long jump with a qualifying mark of 23-2.5.
Other top results came from the men sprinters. Jim Sattem and Hashim Hall finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the dash finals. Anthony Robinson had a fourth place finish in the 400-meter dash and Andre Gittens and Robinson finished sixth and seventh in the 200-meter.
After strong cross country seasons, Jenny Rodgers and Anne Kawasaki both had good performances. Rodgers finished second in the 800-meter and third in the mile run while Kawasaki was third in the 800 and fifth in the mile run. Evan Garich was the top men’s runner at those distances, finishing fourth in the 800 and sixth in the mile.
Portland State went 1-3 on both the men’s and women’s side in dual scoring. The Viking men defeated the University of Portland by a 41-25 score but fell to Washington (104-14), Oregon (90-26) and Western Oregon (56-38). The women beat Portland by a 69-26 margin and fell to Washington (87-33), Oregon (56-50) and Western Oregon (63-51).
The Vikings will be back in action in Seattle again on Feb. 2 for the Husky Invitational.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Vikings drop a pair over the weekend
The Portland State women’s tennis team completed its first road trip of the season with back-to-back losses at Utah State (7-0) and Idaho State (6-1).
PSU (0-3, 0-2 Big Sky) received its first individual singles win of the year in Sunday’s match against the Bengals. Returner Abby Schagunn came back against Melanie Kraul, 3-6, 6-3 and 10-8, at the No. 5 position.
Utah State 7, Portland State 0
Singles
1. Sarah Lowe (USU) def. Katie Slizewski (PSU), 6-1, 6-3.
2. Jocee Bergeson (USU) def. Blaze Wodum (PSU), 6-0, 6-1.
3. Caroline Pollock (USU) def. Melinda Johnson (PSU), 6-1, 6-0.
4. Richelle Ferguson (USU) def. Holly Meldahl (PSU), 6-1, 6-0.
5. Carolyn Larsen (USU) def. Karolina Pak (PSU), 6-0, 6-0.
6. Haley Hawkins (USU) def. Abby Schagunn, 6-0, 6-1.
Doubles
1. Lowe/Pollock (USU) def. Slizewski/Wodum, 8-6.
2. Hawkins/Larsen (USU) def. Johnson/Pak, 8-1.
3. Anderson/Thatcher (USU) def. Meldahl/Schagunn, 8-0.