Viking women and Maurice Woodring earn top three finishes on final day of NCAA D2s...
EMPORIA, Kansas--Western Washington's run at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships at Francis G. Welch Stadium on the campus of Emporia State University ended with the Viking men tied for 24th in the team standings with nine points, recording the best finish since placing 23rd in 2015. Western's women tallied 11 points to tie for 27th place in the team standings, matching the best performance since 2017.
The WWU women (photo courtesy WWU Athletics) took home the national bronze medal, breaking their own GNAC record for the second day in-a-row. Casie Kleine, Jayda Darroch, Kennedy Cook and Bec Bennett teamed up to run 3:35.65 minutes, which bested Friday’s GNAC-record preliminary time of 3:35.92 minutes. It was the highest-ever finish by a GNAC women’s relay team at the outdoor championships, including both the 4x400-meters and 4x100-meters competitions.
It was the first-ever podium finish for Western Washington in the event, and the first by a GNAC team since Simon Fraser took eighth in 2022.
Central Washington also earned All-America status, finishing in eighth place in Saturday’s finals. The quartet of Ellie DeGroot, Carley Huber, Donna Marie Harris and Elise Hopper clocked in at 3:40.81 minutes. West Texas A&M crushed the competition for the national title, breaking the NCAA Division II record with a time of 3:32.18 minutes – far ahead of runner-up Northwest Missouri State (3:35.21 minutes).
On the men’s side in the 4x400-meter relay, WWU finished in seventh place to also make the All-American podium. Jackson Moffitt, Sam Foust, Evin Ford and Lucas Brenek capped their GNAC-record breaking season with a time of 3:07.94 to finish right in the mix with the other seven teams competing. It was just the second time in GNAC history that a men’s outdoor relay unit of any kind earned All-America, as WWU joined the fourth-place finishing Alaska Anchorage men’s 4x400-meter relay squad from 2017. Angelo State claimed the NCAA title, posting a time of 3:04.46 minutes in the final race of the season.
"An amazing year for the Vikings, capped by a great team performance in Kansas at nationals. I am really proud of this team for the way they competed at the highest level during the final days of the season," said head coach Ben Stensland. "From the initial practice on campus in October until the last race in May, they put in a great amount of hard work and accomplished a lot of great marks. The student-athletes and coaches - both present and past - make this a special program, and we will build off this great performance at nationals."
Maurice Woodring made a run at the national title in the 400-meter hurdles, clocking a personal-best time of 50.50 while finishing in third place. Woodring was neck-and-neck with winner Rinaldo Moore of Minnesota State's 50.25 and runner-up Joshua Widdows of Biola (50.31) down the stretch, crossing the line in third place breaking his own WWU and GNAC record.
Senior Bec Bennett completed her two-year career as a Viking earning a pair of All-America honors with podium finishes in the 400m (fourth place) and running a stellar anchor leg of the 4x400 relay (third place). Bennett clocked 53.12 in the 400m to place fourth.
Jakob Braunstein was eighth and got a podium finish in the men's javelin. Braunstein qualified for the final round of throws with a throw of 224-2 (68.34m) for the second-best throw of his collegiate career.
Aberdeen native Julian Campos of Adams State got his second top eight finish of the meet, as he placed eighth in the men's 5000, running 14:13.42 after finishing third in Thursday's 10000 meters. Former Central Washington standout Ramon Rodriguez, now running for Tiffen, was 20th in 14:42.60.
Emmy Kroontje was twelfth in the women's 1500m final with a time of 4:33.98. Kroontje earned one of the twelve spots in the final recording a prelim time of 4:28.54 on Thursday.
In the shot put, Central Washington’s Maliyah Gordon was the fifteenth place finisher with a toss of 46-11 feet (14.30m).
Jessica Polkinghorn had a busy Saturday competing in the javelin and shot put. Polkinghorn placed 11th in the javelin competition narrowly missing a spot in the finals with a top mark of 148-10 (45.37m) to finish 11th earning Second Team All-America honors.
After a short rest, she jumped into the shot put competition placing 18th with a top throw of 46-1.25 (14.05m). Polkinghorn is the first Viking during the NCAA era to compete in multiple throwing events at nationals.
Grand Valley State won the men’s team national title, totaling 66 points to surpass runner-up Pittsburg State (61 points). On the women’s side, West Texas A&M racked up 64 points to squeak past Pittsburg State (63.2 points) for the national title.
NOTE: The NCAA, Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and the sports information offices of Western Washington and Central Washington contributed to this report.
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