BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University Track & Field team recorded 18 event wins, 12 program top 10 marks and four NCAA provisional qualifying marks during competition Saturday at the 39^th Annual Ralph Vernacchia Track & Field Meet at Civic Stadium.
 
Western's men notched 13 event victories to dominate the team scoring with 279 points, while the WWU women tallied five event wins and scored 200 points to edge out Central Washington.
 
"It was a good day to host a home meet and what a way to send our seniors out," said WWU Track & Field Head Coach Pee Wee Halsell. "We had a lot of great races and competitions, got a few provisional marks and a lot of names moved into the top 10 in program history. This group has been working extremely hard in practice and today was a great reward for them with all the success."
 
The Vikings are nearing the end of the regular season, with one final meet next Saturday at the Ken Shannon in Seattle, and then the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships are set for May 14-15 in Monmouth, Oregon.
  WWU totaled 13 event wins during the Vernacchia T&F Meet, with senior Cordell Cummings a double winner in the 110m Hurdles (14.53) and 400m Hurdles (53.57) and junior Bryan Welch taking top honors in both the 200m (21.99) and 400m (49.05).
 
Freshman Jeret Gillingham won the 3,000m Steeplechase in 9:03.33 for the 2^nd-fastest time in program history and an NCAA II provisional qualifying mark. Junior Mac Franks placed 2^nd i9:05.12, also an NCAA II provisional mark and 4^th-best in WWU history. Franks also won the 800m in 1:55.76.
 
WWU had three top-10 performances in the high jump, led by a first-place finish from senior David Tran, who had a leap of 7.14m/23-5.25 to tie for 6^th-best in program outdoor history. Freshman Ryan Greenwalt placed 2^nd with a jump of 7.08m/23-2.75 for the 9^th-best mark in WWU history and sophomore Ethan Sterkel was 3^rd at 7.06m/23-2 (10^th in WWU history). Greenwalt also won the 100m in 10.90 seconds, 14^th-best in program history.
 
Freshman Kevin McDermott won the 5,000m in 14:33.21 for the 5^th-best time in program history.
 
Additional event winners included the 4x100 Relay (42.93), Ethan Sterkel in the high jump (1.91m/6-3.25), Kacey Provo in the Pole Vault (4.41m/14-5.50) and Jaydon Tryon in the Javelin (54.38m/178-05).
  Junior Aliyah Dawkins recorded a pair of top-10 program marks, winning the 110m Hurdles in 14.55 seconds (5^th in WWU history) and reached a NCAA II provisional qualifying mark placing 2^nd in the high jump by clearing 1.69m/5-6.5 (6^th in WWU history).
 
Senior Karlie Hurley continued her assault on the WWU top-10 lists, placing 2^nd in the 100m in 12.26 seconds for the 6^th-best mark in program history. Hurley now has top-10 program marks in the 100m (No. 6), 200m (No. 5), 400m (No. 7), Long Jump (No. 6) and Triple Jump (No. 3). Hurley was a double winner also taking top honors in the triple jump with a mark of 11.82m/38-9.50.
 
Freshman Matty Lagerwey won the long jump with a personal-best mark of 5.59m/18-4.25 for the 9^th-best jump in program history. Dawkins placed 2^nd in the event with a mark of 5.49m/18-0.25.
 
Senior Talia Dreicer won the 3,000m Steeplechase in 11:16.69, with freshman Ila Davis placing 2^nd in 11:26.72 for the 9^th-best time in WWU history.
 
Freshman Madison Fassiotto won the pole vault clearing 3.32m/10-10.75.
 
Senior Natalie Vetto placed 2^nd in the javelin with a mark of 43.64/143-2 and freshman Katie Potts was 2^nd in both the discus (42.11m/138-2 – 9^th in WWU history) and shot put (12.55m/41-2.25).
  With six teams competing in the 2021 Ralph Vernacchia Track & Field Meet, team scores were kept with WWU winning convincingly on the men's side with 279 points and with a narrow 200-186 win over Central Washington on the women's side. Here is a look at the team scores from the Vernacchia Track & Field Meet:
 

MEN'S TEAM SCORES
1	Western Washington	279
2	Central Washington	128
3	Pacific Lutheran	109
4	Saint Martin's	92
5	Puget Sound	38
6	Alaska Anchorage	37
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES
1	Western Washington	200
2	Central Washington	186
3	Saint Martin's	102
4	Pacific Lutheran	78
5	Alaska Anchorage	70
6	Puget Sound	59

  Three Vikings are scheduled to compete in the 2021 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Combined Championships on Monday and Tuesday (May 3-4) in Ellensburg. Sophomore Leanne Kibbee is scheduled to compete in the heptathlon and sophomore Cooper Cummings and freshman Ryan Kenny are slated to compete in the decathlon. Live results will be available via WWUVikings.com/TF_Multis.
  The Ralph Vernacchia Track & Field Meet is named in honor of the former mentor of the Track & Field and Cross Country programs at Western Washington University. Ralph's career included one cross country and seven track & field district titles, as well as countless NAIA All-Americans and NAIA Scholar-Athletes. Ralph is retired from Western, where he was a professor in the PE Department, and from USA Track & Field, where he was the Sports Psychological subcommittee chair. He served as sport psychologist for the 2000 USA Track & Field Olympic team in Sydney. He was inducted into the WWU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.