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Emma Stolte Sets Records
Author: John Wykoff, Portland State University

Emma Stolte Sets Records

John Wykoff

Portland State University

Emma Stolte Sets Records, Vibes Amid Standout Senior Season for Portland State University Vikings.

According to senior distance runner (cross country and track), Emma Stolte, when she reluctantly started running in grade school in her hometown of Townsend, Mont., she was terrible.

“I hated the idea of running cross country, but all my friends were going to try, so I did too,” she recalled. The early results were not promising.

She came in last at every practice and couldn’t complete a mile. “At that point, I hated running,” she said.

Stolte began her sports career playing soccer “just for fun” and, after her sixth-grade running experience, told her friends she was switching to volleyball in the seventh grade.

When that year came around, “something in my gut told me to stick to cross country and I haven’t stopped since. I’m not very good at sports that involve a ball,” she admitted. And, she slowly got better at cross country, eventually learning to love distance running in track.

“I found my love for the sport. This is my 11th year running. I have always run distances. In track, I ran the mile and two miles most of the time. I tried the 800 competitively for the first time in my senior year in high school and really liked it. I have so much love for running, it’s hard to explain. When I run a race or see my teammates' PR, it makes me very emotional,” said Stolte.

Her favorite is the 1500 “because it’s the perfect mix of distance and speed. It’s long enough that tactical moves can be made. At least to me, the last lap feels like a full sprint. I group the mile and 1,500 in my head. I also have a lot of love for the mile because it’s a distance I’ve been doing since I was little.”

By the time she finished Broadwater High School, she’d won four state titles between the individual cross-country title (2021), two titles in the 1,600 meters (2021, 2022) and one in the 800 meters (2022).

“I enjoy running distances because, when I’m running, it feels like nothing else in the world matters. Running distances is also an extremely mental game and I really like that aspect,” she said.

And that’s not a surprise. Stolte was also a four-time academic all-state honoree in cross-country and a three-time academic all-state in field and track. She was her high school class valedictorian and an Individual qualifier and Placer for the Academic Olympics.

In high school, she began thinking about medicine as a career. “It may sound cheesy, but I like the idea of helping people.”

To no one’s surprise, Stolte began hearing from colleges her senior year. She heard from other colleges but was particularly interested in a direct message from the Viking coaching staff because Portland State fit several of her criteria - she wanted to leave the state for college and she wanted to experience city life, being from a small town (Townsend population: 2,210 and 39 students in her high school graduating class) and maybe not be too far from home.

“I was talking to a few other schools but always knew I was going here at the end of the day. I ended up taking a visit and was really nervous about everyone liking me. I always knew I wanted to go out of state, and I really wanted to go to a city since my town was so small. I really wanted to broaden my views of the world, and I knew Portland State could do that for me,” said Stolte.

At PSU, she has always impressed athletically and academically.

“Emma’s biggest strength is her consistency and discipline. She understands pacing. She races with confidence and she doesn’t back down when things get tough. That combination of physical preparation and mental toughness is what makes her effective at distance events,” said cross country and track & field head coach Joseph Blue.

That toughness was tested with two tibia fractures her sophomore year.

“Injuries are super difficult and they impacted me emotionally and mentally. The summer of my sophomore year, my goal was to make the traveling squad because I knew the conference cross country meet was in Missoula on the course where I became a state champ. I felt it would be sort of a full circle moment,” she said.

As the meet approached, she knew she wouldn’t be healthy enough to go. “I was devastated. My whole family was going to be there, my friends from high school, too. But I wasn’t able,” she recalled.

Stolte took six very difficult months off from running. She biked, swam and did other things to stay fit. She was able to race one of the final races outdoors that year.

“I could not have been happier. I’m really proud of that year because I never gave up. I was in so much pain, but I trusted the process and was able to overcome it,” she said. Although she had a shin flare-up this cross-country season, she finally got her “full circle” moment at the conference meet last fall because it was in Montana and her family and friends and high school coach were able to see her run. And not only run, but earn All-Big Sky honors with a ninth-place individual finish.

Stolte’s injuries played a constructive part in her maturation as an athlete, said Blue. “She’s had to become more patient, more intentional with recovery and more aware of her body. What stands out is how she’s handled it. She’s stayed engaged, trusted the process and continued to show up. That resilience has allowed her to come back stronger and more mature as an athlete”.

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PhotoCredit: Portland State University
Image 1 Caption: Emma Stolte at the Big Sky Cross Country Championships Portland State University Photo
Image 2 Caption: Emma Stolte, representing Portland State University at the Stanford Invitational Meet. Don Gosney Photography