When Bec Bennett helped break three Western Washington University women’s indoor track and field records at the season opener, it was her first time ever competing on an indoor track.
The junior from Sydney, Australia had once been one of the top 400-meter runners in her home country. Bennett, now 25, has been finding a resurgence in the sport following a four-year break.
She first joined the Australian national team in 2017, competed in the world championships in 2019 and qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 4X400-meter relay. COVID-19 postponed the Olympics to 2021, where she qualified again but had to pull out for personal reasons.
Bennett traveled the U.S. during her break, eventually landing in Nevada one winter, where a local high school cleared the snow from its track so she could train and get back into running.
She eventually returned to Australia to compete in the domestic season and ended up placing third at the Paris Olympic Trials.
Bennett then backpacked through Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America before meeting Western head track and field coach Ben Stensland through mutual acquaintances. He would soon offer her a full-ride scholarship.
“I don’t know how I’ve got so lucky to land such a multi-faceted opportunity where both my athletic and academic endeavors are supported,” Bennett said, “but it’s all thanks to the generosity and wholehearted belief in my abilities from Ben and WWU, who moved mountains to make this crazy idea a reality.”
Now Bennett, who is working toward a master’s degree in mental health and rehabilitation counseling, has spearheaded a Vikings’ squad that is off to a torrid start to the indoor season.
Western set five school records, 23 program top-10 marks and five Division II provisional qualifying marks during the season opener Dec. 14, 2024 in Spokane.
Bennett’s three school records came in the 400-meter run, where her time of 54.73 is ranked No. 2 in the nation in Division II and was the second-fastest time in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history. It beat Ellie Seiler’s previous record of 56.23 set in 2009.
Bennett tied the Seiler’s 200-meter dash record of 25.03, and also ran the anchor leg in the school-record 4X400-meter winning relay with a time of 3:48.62.
“I’m just having fun,” Bennett said. “I’m very stoked it went as well as it did. When I finished [the 400], I still had gas in the tank because I was really unsure what it was going to be like running a two-lap 400.”
Bennett is currently spending the holidays with her family in Sydney, where she’s gone from scraping ice off her car windows in Bellingham to 100-degree Australian heat.
She competes next at the UW Preview at noon Friday, Jan. 17 at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor facility, where she hopes she can keep the positive momentum churning for her new team.
“Western Washington has some pretty awesome people,” Bennett said. “They really care about the people. You’re so much more than just a number … It’s like a proper family. Everyone is supportive of each other.”
Women’s basketball
Western women’s hoops is continuing to deal with the injury bug, most recently in a 74-68 loss to Quincy University at the Big Island Holiday Classic Dec. 21, 2024 in Hilo, Hawaii. The Vikings, who have lost two of their last four games, were forced to suit up just eight players.
The Vikings (6-5, 1-1 GNAC) were without third-leading scorer Demi Dykstra (11.6 points per game) who went down with an injury in the fourth quarter of Western’s Dec. 20, 2024 victory over Hawaii Hilo.
The next day, junior guard Mason Oberg drilled 5-of-11 3-pointers against Quincy, bringing her career total to 124 and moving into the top-10 all-time list in program history.
Men’s basketball
Western men have been off since playing in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic. The Vikings ended with a 70-68 come-from-behind victory over St. Mary’s (Texas), where sophomore guard Tijan Saine hit a pair of free throws to break a 68-68 tie with 4.6 seconds left to play.
Senior guard Will Wilson is the team’s leading scorer through 12 games, averaging 15.6 points per game. Redshirt freshman Grant Kepley, a Sehome grad, is the team’s No. 2 scorer, averaging 14.4 points per game.
The Vikings (8-4, 0-2 GNAC) return to GNAC play Jan. 2 and 4 hosting the Alaska schools.
BEST BETS
5:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 2 – Women’s basketball at Western Oregon, Monmouth, Oregon. WWU will return to conference play after finishing a holiday tournament last week in Hawaii. The Vikings begin with road games at Western Oregon Thursday, Jan. 2, and at Saint Martin’s Friday, Jan. 3.
7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4 – Men’s basketball vs. Alaska Anchorage, Bellingham. In Western’s second game back to conference play after its holiday tournament in Las Vegas, the Vikings will honor their 2012 national champion team’s induction into the WWU Athletics Hall of Fame.
Tickets. See wwuvikings.com/Tickets or in person one hour prior to game time.
Parking. Free for sports. For basketball, lot 19G for general audience; 9G for season ticket holders. See the map at wwu.edu/parking.
Can’t make it? Stream it
All home games and most road contests are streamed via a live and free YouTube webcast. Find links online at cascadiadaily.com.
If you have a smart TV, search for “WWU Athletics” on YouTube.
We want to hear from you
Got a WWU sports-related news tip or interesting item for this notebook, or a good story idea? We’re all ears. Send to newstips@cascadiadaily.com, subject line: WWU sports notebook.
Eric Trent is CDN’s news producer; reach him at erictrent@cascadiadaily.com.
