WEEKEND RECAP: Western Washington completes men's and women's sweep of GNAC XC, indoor & outdoor titles...
ELLENSBURG--Western Washington became the first program in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history to win the six combined men’s and women’s cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field team titles in the same academic year Saturday evening at the Central Washington Recreation Complex.
The Viking men racked up 238 points and the women totaled 212 points to capture the two team titles at the 2024 GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, completing the 2023-24 sweep for the WWU track and field and cross country program. WWU claimed both cross country titles on Oct. 21 in Anchorage, Alaska, before following with both indoor titles on Feb. 20 in Spokane, Wash.
In the men's standings, Central Washington was second with 185, while Saint Martin's was eighth with 23, and Seattle Pacific ninth with 15 points.
Central Washington was the runner-up in the women's competition with 146 points, while Seattle Pacific was fifth with 71 points, and Saint Martin's ninth with 14.
Western Washington’s Katie Potts claimed the GNAC Womens’ Field Athlete of the Meet honor after winning both the shot put and discus titles over the weekend.
Potts followed Friday’s shot put title with a discus gold medal on Saturday, winning the event with a heave of 146-11.0 (44.80 meters). She became the sixth woman in GNAC history to win consecutive titles in the discus, after winning the crown in 2023.
Josh Green of host CWU earned the GNAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Meet award, after winning the 200 meters in 20.87, propelling the Wildcats to a GNAC record in the 4x100 meters and finishing fourth in the 100 meters. Decathlon and pole vault champion Drew Klein claimed the GNAC Men’s Field Athlete of the Meet award, and Jeret Gillingham of Western Washington won the GNAC Performance of the Meet after breaking the conference record in the steeplechase on Friday.
Central Washington’s men broke their own GNAC record in the 4x100 meter relay, clocking in with a time of 40.88 seconds to claim the gold medal. The quartet of Josh Boast, Isaiah Webster, Green and Trevion Walker bested their time of 41.01 seconds, which was the previous conference all-time mark. Western Washington placed second in 41.13 seconds and Western Oregon grabbed the bronze medal in 41.28 seconds.
Johan Correa of CWU won a highly-anticipated men’s 800 meters, cruising to victory on his home track with a time of 1:50.82. Correa made history as the first-ever Wildcat man to claim the title, while Drew Weber of Western Washington took second in 1:52.09.
Seattle Pacific's Annika Esvelt cruised to her first GNAC outdoor crown in the 5000 meters, blowing away the competition by almost a full minute in 17:06.73. She is just the second Falcon to win the event, joining 2021 champion Dania Holmberg. Alexandra Otto of Alaska Anchorage finished a distant second in 18:00.13 and Ashley Reeck of WWU picked up the bronze medal in 18:04.91.
Kevin McDermott of Western Washington, who took the triple title in the mile, 3000 and 5000 meters during the indoor season, won the 1500 meters. McDermott ran 3:51.45, becoming the third Viking in GNAC history to win the event.
Hannah Chang of Seattle Pacific stole the show in the 100-meter hurdles, taking home the W with a time of 13.88 seconds.
The men’s 4x400-meter relay meanwhile was won by WWU, with Brian Le, Brenek, Ryan Greenwalt and Weber teaming up for a time of 3:17.35. It was the fifth-straight title by the WWU men in the event and their seventh overall.
The men’s 110-meter hurdle crown belonged to Aiden Wise of Central Washington, as he crossed the line with a winning time of 14.47 seconds. Justin Conklin of WOU placed second in 14.60 seconds and Klein earned a bronze medal with a time of 14.69 seconds. Wise is the third Wildcat in GNAC history to win the event and the first since Anthony Hogan in 2010.
Marian Ledesma of WWU successfully defended her 800 meters title, running 2:12.83 to bring home her second straight gold medal.
Gabe Menicke of WWU stunned the triple jump field with the sixth-longest leap in GNAC history, as he cleared 49-1.50 (14.97m) on his third attempt to bring home the gold medal. He is the fourth Viking to win the event at the GNAC Outdoor Championships, and the first since Mark Seely in 2016. CWU’s Isaiah Webster, who claimed the GNAC Indoor title, took the silver medal with a jump of 48-4.5 (14.74m) on his final attempt of the day. Seattle Pacific’s David Njeri, the reigning champion in the triple jump, finished third with a top jump of 46-6.25 (14.18m).
The first roar of the day came early on, as CWU freshman Wes Kriete won the shot put on his final attempt on his home turf. With the title already wrapped up, Kriete cut loose a toss of 52-7.5 feet (16.04m) which was his furthest throw of the season. Wildcat teammate Wyatt Franklin finished third with a mark of 48-0 (14.63m).
Emy Ntekpere of CWU claimed the women’s triple jump title, clearing 40-5.0 feet (12.32 meters) to cap off her standout freshman campaign.
The Wildcats’ Josh Boast took home the 400 meter hurdles in 54.13 seconds, holding off second-place Jaden Edwards of Western Washington (54.57) by 0.44 seconds. CWU’s Wise was the bronze medalist, finishing with a time of 55.03 seconds. Boast became the first-ever CWU men’s hurdler to win a 400-meter GNAC title.
ROOKS CLOSES IN OLYMPIC STANDARD IN STEEPLE...
In Los Angeles, Walla Walla native Kenneth Rooks set a personal best in the steeplechase, as the reigning USA national champion clocked 8:15.08 to win his specialty at the Sound Running Track Fest at Jack Kemp Stadium on the campus of Occidental College Saturday night.
Rooks won in a time of 8:15.08, but missed the Olympic Games standard by an agonizing 8/100ths of a second.
Washington alum Amy-Eloise Neale finished third in the women's 5000 in 15:07.38, as former Nike Oregon Project standout Sifan Hassan of The Netherlands won in 14:58.83.
The women's steeple saw former Seattle Pacific and Oregon State All-American Kaylee Mitchell finish second in 9:29.26 to Colorado alum Valerie Constein's 9:27.22. Seattle resident Allie Ostrander was fourth in 9:32.87.
Washington alum Paul Ryan was eighth in the men's 1500 in 3:39.45, while in the women's 1500, Washington grad Eleanor Fulton, who missed most of the 2023 season with an injury, ran 4:13.51 for a 12th place finish.
Former Brooks Beast and US Olympic marathon alternate Jessica McLain won the women's 10000 in a personal best 31:35.28, just missing the automatic qualifying standard for the Olympic Trials in Eugene of 31:30.00.
In the afternoon section of the Track Fest, Olympia native Brooke Feldmeier was fifth in her heat of the 800 in 2:05.16.
Washington alum Anna Gibson was third in her heat of the 1500 in 4:10.34. Another Husky alum, Aiden Ryan, was ninth in his heat of the men's 1500 in 3:43.46.
In the second section of the men's steeple, Washington alum Julius Diehr was sixth in 8:43.46, while Club Northwest's Mac Franks was tenth in 8:47.52
NOTE: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and Sound Running contributed to this report.
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