Portland State Vikings
Portland State Vikings | |
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Gordon Faber Recreation Complex | |
Soccer stadium | Hillsboro Stadium |
Other venues | Blue Lake Regional Park Langdon Farms Golf Club |
Mascot | Victor E. Viking |
Nickname | Vikings |
Colors | Green, white, and silver[1] |
Website | www |
Portland State Vikings is the
Prior to joining Division I, the school won
Among the more notable former PSU athletes are
Torre Chisholm was named new athletic director March 26, 2007. Chisholm replaced interim AD Teri Mariani, who filled that role since February 2006 when Tom Burman left for the University of Wyoming. Washington State University AD Jim Sterk preceded Burman as PSU AD. After an extensive nationwide search for an athletic director, John Johnson was selected by PSU president Stephen Percy and introduced on March 15, 2022. He began work on campus May 1. From 2019-21, Johnson served as senior deputy athletic director at the University of Nebraska. From 2004-2019 he was the senior associate director of athletics for Washington State University. His career has also included being director of athletics at Weber State University (1997-2004) and Eastern Washington University (1993-97).
Home games for football and soccer are held at
Sports sponsored
Men's sports | Women's sports |
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Basketball | Basketball |
Cross country | Cross country |
Football | Golf |
Tennis | Soccer |
Track and field† | Softball |
Tennis | |
Track and field† | |
Volleyball | |
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor. |
Men's sports
Football
Football began competing at the college level in 1947. PSU competed at the small college level before beginning to compete at an interstate level in the 1960s. The 1970s brokered a new level of achievement under
The 2006 season included a victory over the
Jerry Glanville's initial season at PSU in 2007 was a disappointing 3–8 campaign. The team recorded a 1–4 home record, worst since 1973. However, enthusiasm was reflected with an increase in attendance and included a wild 73–68 loss to Weber State. Center Brennan Carvalho finished a brilliant career by being named All-American for a second time. On December 8, 2009, Portland State announced Nevada defensive coordinator Nigel Burton as their new head coach.[2]
On September 15, 2015, The Vikings travelled to Pullman, Washington, to take on the Washington State Cougars. In Bruce Barnum's coaching debut. With a tie game at the nine-minute mark in the fourth quarter, Quarterback's Paris Penn, and Alex Kuresa put together a 14-play, 69-yard drive. Running Back Steven Long finished the series with a one-yard TD run at the 2:19 mark.
With the Vikings up, The Vikings' defensive unit was up to the task. Washington State was driving inside the final minute when senior DB Aaron Sibley picked off a Peyton Bender pass at the PSU 27-yard line. From there, PSU knelt on the ball and ran out the clock on one of the biggest wins in program history.
The Vikings knocked off the
After not playing an official 2020 season due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, The Vikings played one spring football game in Missoula, Montana, against University Of Montana on April 17, at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. They returned for a full-season schedule in 2021. The Vikings finished the 2021 season at 5-6, including an upset victory in Ogden, UT over #24 Weber State. Quarterback Davis Alexander signed a free agent contract after season's end with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. Alexander completed his career ranked second all-time on PSU's passing lists (9,215 passing yards, 63 touchdowns, as well as 1,254 rushing yards, 25 TDs). Punter Seth Vernon also signed professionally with the Atlanta Falcons in the pre-season. He punted three times for a total of 134 yards, averaging 44.7 yards per punt, and had two punts inside the 20.
Head football coaches
Tenure | Coach | Years | Record | Pct. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1947–1954 | Joe Holland |
8 | 20–42–3 | .331 |
1955–1956 | Ralph Davis | 2 | 4–11–1 | .281 |
1957–1958 | Les Leggatt | 2 | 6–11–0 | .353 |
1959–1961 | Hugh Smithwick | 3 | 6–17–2 | .280 |
1962–1962 | Tom DeSylvia | 1 | 4–4–0 | .500 |
1963–1967 | Jerry Lyons | 5 | 21–24–1 | .467 |
1968–1971 | Don Read* | 4 | 20–19 | .513 |
1972–1974 | Ron Stratten | 3 | 9–24–0 | .273 |
1975–1980 | Mouse Davis | 6 | 42–24–0 | .636 |
1981–1985 | Don Read* | 5 | 19–33–1 | .365 |
1986–1992 | Pokey Allen | 7 | 63–26–2 | .703 |
1993–2006 | Tim Walsh |
14 | 90–68–0 | .570 |
2007–2009 | Jerry Glanville | 3 | 9–24–0 | .273 |
2010–2014 | Nigel Burton | 5 | 12–21–0 | .364 |
2015 – present | Bruce Barnum | 7 | 26–42–0 | .382 |
Totals | 13 coaches | 64 seasons | 324–349–10 | .482 |
* Read's combined statistics: 9 seasons, with a record of 39–52–1 (.429). |
Basketball
National scoring champion Freeman Williams starred for PSU during the 1970s under coach Ken Edwards. PSU made the NCAA College Division playoffs in 1967, and twice competed in the NAIA playoffs in the 1950s.
In the Big Sky Conference: When PSU joined the Big Sky Conference, basketball returned to campus after a hiatus that lasted from 1981 to 1996. Former head coach is Tyler Geving. Portland State has qualified for the Big Sky Conference Tournament eight times in the eleven years it has been eligible. The Vikings have a 6–6 Big Sky Tournament record, including 2–0 against Montana State, 2–0 against Idaho State, 1–1 against Eastern Washington, and 1–2 against Northern Arizona and 0–3 against Weber State.
PSU completed the 2006–07 season with a 19–13 overall record and a 9–7 conference record. In the conference tournament, PSU defeated Montana State and was then defeated by Weber State to finish the season.
PSU rolled through the Big Sky in 2007–08, losing only two conference games on the way to a second ever conference championship since last winning in 2005. The Vikings went on to win the conference tourney by beating
In the 2008–09, for the second year in a row, the Portland State Vikings completed a 23–10 basketball season with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Matched with the previous season, the two 23-win seasons tie for the most in school history. And, both seasons culminated with appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Although the Vikings did not win the Big Sky Conference regular season title (as they did in 2007–08), the second-place team did win the Big Sky Tournament for a second straight season, advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Portland State earned a number-13 seed but lost in the Tournament to fourth-seeded Xavier in a first-round game, 77–59. The regular season highlights included a victory on the road over then seventh ranked Gonzaga and a victory over Boise State in an ESPN "bracket-buster" game.
After Ken Bone left Portland State in 2009 for
Head basketball coaches
Tenure | Coach | Years | Record | Pct. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1946–1947 | John Jenkins | 1 | 11–10 | .524 |
1947–1948 | Joe Holland | 1 | 14–5 | .737 |
1948–1953 | Arba Ager | 5 | 85–52 | .620 |
1953–1965 | Sharkey Nelson | 12 | 162–156 | .509 |
1965–1972 | Marion Pericin | 7 | 85–82 | .509 |
1972–1978 | Ken Edwards | 6 | 93–109 | .592 |
1978–1981 | Glen Kinney | 3 | 18–62 | .225 |
1996–1998 | Ritchie McKay | 2 | 24–29 | .453 |
1998–2002 | Joel Sobotka | 4 | 53–59 | .452 |
2003–2005 | Heath Schroyer+ | 3 | 35–47 | .427 |
2005–2009 | Ken Bone* | 4 | 77–49 | .611 |
2009 – 2017 | Tyler Geving | 2 | 112-133 | .457 |
2017-2020 | Barrett Peery | 3 | 63-57 | .525 |
2021-Present | Jase Coburn | 2 | 14-17 | .452 |
Totals | 12 coaches | 48 seasons | 670–634 | .514 |
+Big Sky Conference 2005 Regular Season Champion. *Big Sky Conference '08 Regular Season Champs. 2008 & '09 Tourney Champs. 2008 & '09 NCAA Tournament bids. |
Wrestling
PSU's wrestling program has won NCAA Division II Championships in 1967, 1989 and 1990.
Track & Field
The men and women's track & field teams are led by head coach David Hepburn. The assistant coach is Portland native, Josh Seitz.
Tennis
Head Coach Brian Parrott leads the Vikings' tennis program starting with the 2008–09 season. After his collegiate career, Parrott played professionally for several years. He played in the U.S. Open qualifier in 1973, and was a member of the Sea-Port Cascades of the World Team Tennis league in 1977. Between 1967 and 1980, Parrott was ranked No. 1 in doubles seven times in the Pacific Northwest, and was never ranked lower than No. 8 in singles. But recently Parrott resigned from his coaching position, and is now taken over by assistant coach Jay Starling.
Women's sports
Basketball
The women's basketball tradition includes considerable success at the NCAA DII level playing for national championships prior to moving to Division I. Head
Under first-year head coach Sherri Murrell, the 2007–08 Portland State team finished 22–9 overall and advanced to the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament. Portland State finished 11–5 in the Big Sky, tying with Montana State for third place, to post its first winning conference mark since going 8–6 in 2002–03. The Vikings were impressive in their conference victories, posting an average margin of victory of 16.7 points. The 22 wins marked the Vikings’ first 20-win season as a Division I program, and their first since going 25–5 as a member of Division II in 1995–96.
In 2008–09 under Murrell's guidance, Portland State posted an impressive 14–2 conference record in the Big Sky Conference losing only to Montana State at home and Montana on the road. PSU finished second behind Montana and beat Idaho State in the conference semi-finals and then lost to Montana in the tournament final.
Volleyball
Longtime coach Jeff Mozzochi led the Vikings to it most successful DI finish in 2006 since moving up from DII. With a .750 winning percentage (21–7, 14–2), the best in the school's Division I era, PSU finished second in the conference's final standings for the second straight year. In the off-season, Mozzochi relinquished the head coaching reins of the program to assistant Michael Seemann and Mozzochi moved into an associate head coaching position.
Under Seemann, the Vikings ended the 2007 season with a 21–8 record and Portland State's first ever Big Sky Regular Championship but missed the NCAA tournament by losing in the conference tournament.
Portland State returned most of its 2007 roster for the 2008 season and finished tied for second in the conference standings. The Vikings hosted and won the 2008 Big Sky Championship tournament at the Peter W. Stott Center for a first ever trip to the NCAA DI tournament.
One of the highlights of Mozzochi's run at PSU came during the 1992 season when the Vikings ran off one of the best NCAA Division II seasons in history. The Vikings lost their ninth match of the year to Cal State-Bakersfield and would not lose again, winning their last 28 straight (31 including foreign teams) matches. Portland State swept through the first three rounds of the NCAA DII Tournament and then defeated Northern Michigan in five games in front of a sellout crowd at the Stott Center for national title number four.
In 2021 Vikings Volleyball went 20-11. In the season The Vikings had their first national postseason berth since 2010 including the first victory in a national postseason tournament in Division I program history (3-2 over Pacific in the first round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship). The most wins since 2017 (20). Best conference record since 2013 (12-4) and the longest winning streak since 2013 (seven matches from Sept. 25 to Oct. 16).
Soccer
A new era in Portland State women's soccer began on February 22, 2008, when former All-American and professional player Laura Schott was named the Vikings’ new head coach. Schott is the seventh head coach in program history. The soccer team won the Big Sky Conference Championship in 2004 under then coach Tara Erickson who subsequently was hired by the University of Oregon.
Golf
The Viking program has been in existence since 1996, but has already proven to be competitive at a high level under former Portland State golf coach Felicia Johnston's guidance. Johnston led the Vikings to three Big Sky Conference Championships during her tenure (2003, 2004, 2005).
After seven seasons in charge, Portland State women's golf coach Felicia Johnston announced her resignation, citing a desire to spend more time with her family. Johnston and her husband, Shane, had a son, Connor, summer of 2007.[5]
“I have been a head coach for 10 years (seven at PSU, three at Northern Arizona),” said Johnston. “Traveling and (coaching and parenting) was tough. Something was going to suffer. So, if I couldn’t do it 100%, I had to choose my family. I’ve been lucky to help this program grow, and I thank everyone for the support they have given me.”[6]
Kathleen Takaishi was named the new women's golf coach on February 4 and took over the program immediately in preparation for the 2008 spring season.
Softball
The Viking softball team has appeared in one Women's College World Series, in 1978.[7] Tobin Echo-Hawk has been coach since the 2008–09 season and is just the third head softball coach at PSU since 1977. The team's record for her first two years is 59–33. They were 27–16 with three games left (as of 5/3[clarification needed] 2011) in the 2010–11 season. Prior to joining the Vikings staff she was the head coach at Broomfield High School in Colorado in 2006. She also spent three years coaching at her alma mater in Colorado, Centaurus High School, and guided the team to a record of 60–15 from 2000–02. Overall as a high school head coach, she compiled a four-year record of 97–26, produced seven all-state performers, and was twice named the league coach of the year.
The Vikings left the
Track and field
The men and women's track and field teams are led by interim head coach Ronnye Harrison. The assistant track and field coaches are John Parks and Seth Henson.
Tennis
Head coach Brian Parrott leads the Vikings' tennis program starting with the 2008–09 season. After his collegiate career, Parrott played professionally for several years. He played in the U.S. Open qualifier in 1973, and was a member of the Sea-Port Cascades of the World Team Tennis league in 1977. Between 1967 and 1980, Parrott was ranked No. 1 in doubles seven times in the Pacific Northwest, and was never ranked lower than No. 8 in singles.
National championships
The Vikings have won seven team NCAA national championships, all at the Division II level.
Team
Association | Division | Sport | Year | Opponent/Runner-up | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
NCAA (7) | Division II (7) | Women's volleyball (4)
|
1984 | Cal State Northridge | 3–0 |
1985 | 3–1 | ||||
1988 | 3–0 | ||||
1992 | Northern Michigan | 3–2 | |||
Wrestling (3) | 1967 | Mankato State | 86–57 (+29) | ||
1989 | Ferris State | 102.5–56.25 (+45.75) | |||
1990 | Central State (OK) | 100.75–96 (+4.75) |
References
- ^ "Portland State University Color Palette". Portland State University Athletics Brand Identity (PDF). May 12, 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
- ^ "Nevada's Burton named Portland St coach". SI.com. December 8, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009. [dead link]
- ^ "Portland State eliminates its wrestling program". The Oregonian. March 18, 2009.
- ^ "U.S. Recession Worst Since Great Depression, Revised Data Show". Bloomberg. August 1, 2009.
- ^ PSU Vikings official athletics site
- ^ GOLFWEEK, November 22, 2007
- ISBN 978-0-9893007-0-4.