The WWU men's team won their second consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Championships, marking the sixth indoor title in program history…was the fourth straight GNAC team title for the WWU Track & Field and Cross Country squad, which includes 2019 indoor, 2019 outdoor and 2019 cross country…the Vikings won the team title scoring 137 points in the event held at Jacksons Indoor Complex at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho,, well ahead of second-place Concordia (87)…the men's squad featured 11 All-GNAC performers for top 3 individual finishes and members of the winning 4x400 relay team…the Vikings scored points in 16 of 17 events, led 18 points in the 60m Hurdles and 17 in the Long Jump…in addition to 12 All-GNAC selections, 13 student-athletes earned USTFCCCA All-West Region honors and six NCAA II provisional qualifying marks were obtained…the Vikings led the GNAC with 17 Academic All-Conference awards and earned the USTFCCCA Academic Team Award…head coach
Pee Wee Halsell was named the GNAC Indoor Men's Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season, his 20
th GNAC Coach of the Year Award.
FILLING THE RECORD BOOK
The season produced five school records and 25 entries into the program all-time top-10 list…
Myles Smith (400m),
Ed Kiolbasa (3,000m),
Ethan Sterkel (Long Jump),
Bryan Lee (Weight Throw) and
Seren Dances (Heptathlon) all set program records during the season.
CUMMINGS REPEATS AS HURDLES CHAMPION
Senior
Cordell Cummings repeated as the 60m Hurdles champion, clocking a personal-best 8.31 to edge Jordan Gloden of Concordia by 4/100
th…Cummings is now a six-time GNAC champion, also winning the 110m High Hurdles in 2018 and 2019 and the 400m Hurdles in 2017 and 2019 during the outdoor season…becomes the third athlete in the 17-year history of the indoor championships to repeat at the 60m hurdle champion, joining former Viking Travis Milbrandt (2015-16) and Robert Edwards of CWU (2006-07).
GNAC GOLD MEDALS
Senior
Cordell Cummings (60m Hurdles) and sophomore
Ethan Sterkel (Long Jump) were individual winners at the GNAC Championships…the 4x400 relay team was also victorious with
Sonny Chhim,
Mark Daniels,
Jon Oglesby and
Myles Smith closing out the team title in grand fashion.