Western Washington’s men’s and women’s track and field teams swept the Great Athletic Northwest Conference indoor championships after competing Feb. 17–18 in Spokane.
The men’s team won with 143 points, Central Washington finished second and Western Oregon finished third. The women’s team won with 143 points, Central Washington earned second and Simon Fraser was third.
On the first day, Kevin McDermott won his third GNAC indoor 5,000-meter race and was the first to reach the top of the podium for the Vikings, finishing in 14:38.56. Andrew Oslin finished fourth in the event and Ryan Clough placed fifth.
In the women’s 5,000-meter race, Emma Smith was fourth in 18:02.49, Alexis Parker was sixth, Ella Edens was seventh and Laura Halsell placed eighth.
Western men’s distance medley relay team placed third out of five squads. Connor Palmen, Sam Foust, Nathan Reseigh and Ian Eifert secured their finish in 10:14.77.
The women’s distance medley relay team, consisting of Elie Bassett, Emmy Kroontje, Skye Stenehjem and Ila Davis, placed second in 12:13.61.
Nicole Avery placed sixth in the women’s pentathlon, a five-event challenge. Avery shined in the long jump by placing third with 17 feet, 7 inches, and was fifth in the 60-meter hurdles in 9.56 seconds.
Several field events also took place throughout the first day. Hannah Polkinghorn settled for fifth place in the long jump with 5.49 meters, Kora Cook finished sixth and Avery was seventh.
In the men’s long jump, Gabe Menicke finished fifth in 6.88 meters and Hewie Nguyen placed seventh.
Kathryn Chapin was the lone placer in the women’s weight throw, placing fourth with 15.42 meters. On the other hand, Miller Campbell finished third in the men’s weight throw with 17.33 meters while Angelo Ramos claimed fourth.
Kurt Montero completed the first day with a third-place finish in the pole vault event with 4.50 meters.
Kaden Miller opened the second day by placing second in the pentathlon, including second-place finishes in the high jump, hurdles and 1,000-meter events.
Will Henry had a fifth-place finish in the 1-mile event in 4:15.65. On the women’s side, Sophie Wright finished second in 5:06.32, Ila Davis completed it in fifth and Bassett was seventh.
In the 60-meter hurdles, Corbin Herron placed third in 8.18 and Hunter Flick was fourth. Ari Nguyen was sixth in the women’s hurdles in 9.19 seconds.
Cameron Trichel earned a team point after finishing eighth in the 60-meter event in 6.99 seconds, while Caitlyn Cheney was sixth in the women’s 60-meter in 7.66 seconds.
In the men’s 400-meter, Isaac Ford placed second in 48.23 seconds and Brian Le finished third.
Bec Bennett won the women’s 400-meter in 54.65 seconds while Kennedy Cook placed fourth. In the women’s 800-meter run, Mia Crocker won in 2:11.64, Kroontje finished third and Wright was fourth.
Jonah Bloom completed the men’s 800-meter in fifth place (1:53.82). Trichel placed seventh in the men’s 200-meter event and Evin Ford was eighth. In the women’s event, Cheney placed fifth in 24.79 seconds and Bennett finished seventh.
McDermott completed his sweep of the long-distance events by winning the 3,000-meter in 8:15.30. Ryan Clough also finished fourth and Geroge Fernandez placed seventh. Davis completed the women’s event in sixth place in 10:16.24.
Western’s Evin Ford, Le, Maurice Woodring and Isaac Ford placed second in the 4×400 relay in 3:15.47, while Polkinghorn, Cheney, Cook and Bennett placed second for the women in 3:46.80.
Kora Cook began the field events with a win in the women’s high jump at 1.73 meters. Noah Turner followed with a victory in the men’s shot put with 15.67 meters.
Polkinghorn won the women’s shot put with 14.09 while Chapin finished second.
Menicke placed third in the men’s triple jump with 14.14 meters and Sydney Mohlman completed the meet by placing third in the women’s pole vault with 3.82 meters.
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
