It was all Portland State on Saturday at the 2004 Hornet Open. The Vikings took both men’s and women’s victories in Sacramento State’s first outdoor event this season.

In preparation for the Olympic Trials, over 450 athletes competed with six schools and 20 track clubs. Many individuals came to the Hornet Open to try out one of the fastest tracks in the world, in hopes that it may give them an edge for the trials.

With about half of Sac State’s athletes resting for the weekend, the team still managed to win some events and place fourth in the men’s and fifth in women’s competitions.

Robert Linkul, Joel Johnson and Geoffrey Fong were the top three finishes in the men’s hammer throw, combining for a total of 53 points in the event. Linkul has been training indoors during the rainy season and is happy to finally be throwing outdoors.

“It’s been a long wait. It feels really nice to be out here especially with such good weather,” Linkul said. “It’s still a transition because we have been training with 35-pound weights, but we are back to using the 16 pounds. It’s a really good way to build some strength.”

Richard Duhaime placed first in the men’s triple jump with a leap of 13.77 meters in the finals.

Hornet Lorea Jones’ javelin throw of 42.97 meters earned her a first place finish on the women’s side.

The Sac State women placed third in three other events including Stephanie Byrd in the 100 meters, Angela Mercado in the 800 meters and Sabrina Kirkwood in the shot put with a throw of 13.25 meters.

For the men, Andre Wright finished third in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.6 seconds. David Nichols and Fong placed second and third in the shot put. Senior Jeff Dougherty finished third with a javelin throw of 57.60 meters.

“I was really nervous and excited to get back into it,” Dougherty said. “There was a lot of good competition and the weather was on our side too. Sometimes a breeze can cause the javelin head to point downward causing it not to go as far.

It was good to see such a great day and start out with some good marks.”

Track Director Kathleen Raske saw this event as a good time to rest some of the athletes who have been competing rigorously in the indoor meets. The Big Sky indoor championships took place last weekend and many Sac State athletes are still resting some aches and pains.