Scanned using Book ScanCenter 5033

Individual track, cross country stars shine through slow season TRACK AND FIELD The 1992 Portland State Track and Field team didn't accomplish much as a team during the year, but five members from the squad did manage to make a little noise. Those five team members qualified for the NCAA Division II Track and Field Meet in San Angelo, Texas and three of the Viking participants were named All-Americans. The five members who went were runners Negussu Solomon, Becky Henry, John Gentry, Shauna Whitmer, and shot-putter Justin Naegle. Solomon, an 18-year-old senior from Ethiopia, had the highest finish of any PSU competitor at Na­ tionals as he placed third in the 5,000 meters with a sizzling time of 14:36.14 to earn All-American hon­ ors. Another runner who grabbed All-American dis­ tinction was Gentry who paced fifth in the 500 me­ ters with a time of 21.26. He qualified for the 200 meter finals by winning his heat two days earlier where he broke his own school record with a time of 21.08. Then from the women's team came Henry who ran her way to Portland State's third All-american honor with a seventh place finish in the 3,000 me­ ters with a mark of 10:19.0. Whitmer, a 31-year-old freshman, was the only other member of the wom­ en's squad to compete and she did well with a tenth place showing in the 5,000 meters and a solid time of 18:15.0. A third participant from the men's team gave a good show as Naegle, a freshman and last year's Oregon state champion in the shot put, threw his way to ninth place with a season best toss of 52'5". Overall, the PSU men's and women's squads didn't finish well in the team category as the men finished in a tie for 26th with 10 points, while the women finished up with only 2. CROSS COUNTRY Two names dominated the Vanguard sports pages for the Portland State cross country team. On the men's side was Chris Hodgers who placed 25th in the Division II Western Regionals held at Rohnert Park in Sonoma. His showing was only five spots short of receiving an invitation to compete in the Division II nationals. Hodgers best performance of the season came against Seattle Pacific as he placed first with a 12:55 time over the 2.5 mile Green Lake course in Seattle. Other members of the Viking squad, Chris Vega (62nd), Nathan Spear (64th), Mike Bojorquez (67th) and Chris Frank (69th) all had varying degrees of success during the cross country season. However none of them could crack the top 60 spots in a field of 72 runners competing in the regional event. On the women's side it was the always impres­ sive Becky Henry leading the way throughout the season. Henry would also win against Seattle Pacif­ ic making it her top finish of the season as well. In regionals Henry placed 25th overall with a time of 18:49. Shauna Whitmer also ran well for the Vikings during the regional event and came in 46th overall with a strong time of 19:28. Teammates Ronda Groshong, Marti Foster and Danica Benner came in 62nd ,73rd and 80th places respectively. The women finished in tenth place overall. —Tony Ruzicka 158