BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University Track & Field is back in action this weekend with several student-athletes competing in the Doris Heritage Track Festival.
The meet hosted by Seattle Pacific University will begin Saturday with field events at 10 am and running events at noon at West Seattle Stadium.
This marks the third full-squad outdoor meet of the 2022 season, with WWU also competing in the UPS Ed Boitano Invitational (March 4-5) and the PLU Open (March 12). Through the first two meets of the outdoor season, WWU has recorded five program top-10 marks, all by women student-athletes.
THE DORIS HERITAGE TRACK FESTIVAL
Known as the First Lady of American distance running, Doris Heritage was a two-time Olympian, won five straight international cross country titles from 1967-71, and at one juncture owned every American and world record from the 440 to the mile (prior to when all events were converted to metric measurements). Heritage is a member of six national halls of fame and is a charter member of the Falcon Legends Hall of Fame.
WHO'S IN ACTION
Here is a
tentative look at who is scheduled to compete for the Vikings at the Doris Heritage Track Festival:
WWU Women:
- BATES, Naomi – 4x100m, 400m Hurdles, 4x400m
- CHENEY, Caitlyn – 4x100m, 100m, 200m
- CLEVELAND BARRERA, Carmen – Shot Put, Hammer
- CROCKER, Mia – 800m, 4x400m
- DAWKINS, Aliyah – 100m, 200m, 4x400m
- KAUFMAN, Jasmine – Shot Put, Hammer
- KIBBEE, Leanne – Javelin, Long Jump, 100m, 200m, 4x400m
- KONRAD, Shawnee – 400m, 4x400m
- LAGERWEY, Matty – Javelin, Long Jump, Shot Put, 100m, 4x400m
- NEAL, Jessica – Triple Jump, 4x100m, 100m, 4x400m
- POTTS, Katie – Shot Put, Hammer
- SANFORD, Jamie – 4x100m, 200m, 4x400m
- WESTFALL, Raine – Hammer
- WRIGHT, Sophie – 800m, 4x400m
WWU Men:
- ALDERFER, Jared – 5000m
- BLINN, Jason – 5000m
- BRENEK, Lucas – 400m
- CHHIM, Sonny – 4x100m, 400m
- CUMMINGS, Cooper – Pole Vault, Javelin, High Jump, Shot Put, 4x400m
- DANIELS, Mark – 4x100m, 200m, 4x400m
- EDWARDS, Jaden – 400m Hurdles, 4x400m
- ENGEBRETSEN, Kale – 400m Hurdles, 4x400m
- FRANKS, Mac – 400m
- GILLINGHAM, Jeret – 5000m
- GREENWALT, Ryan – 100m, 200m
- HENRY, Ryan – 4x100m, 200m, 4x400m
- KENNY, Ryan – Pole Vault, Javelin, Long Jump, High Jump, 4x400m
- KIBLER, Trent – Pole Vault, Long Jump, Shot Put, 4x400m
- KNOWLES, Brock – 800m
- KORTA, Kaleb – 5000m
- LE, Brian – 4x100m, 400m
- LEE, Jerrod – Shot Put, Hammer
- MALQUIST, Ben – Shot Put
- MCALLISTER, Cyrus – 100m, 200m, 4x400m
- SANDS, Sean – 5000m
- SHEERAN, Beau – High Jump
- STURDEVANT, Landon – 5000m
- THEOPHILUS, Abbas – 5000m
- TRYON, Jaydon – Javelin
- WEBER, Drew – 5000m
- WELCH, Bryant – 400m
- WITTERS, Ryan – 4x100m, 400m, 4x400m
- WITTERS, Sean – Javelin
GNAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Ila Davis and
Raine Westfall earned GNAC Track & Field weekly awards for their performances at the PLU Open last Saturday.
Davis won the steeplechase by over two minutes in a time of 10:54.62 to earn Track Athlete of the Week honors. She became the first Division II female athlete to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships in the event this season.
Westfall earned the Field Athlete of the Week award after winning the hammer throw by 24 feet with her winning mark of 49.38m/162-0 for an early top-10 mark in NCAA II during the early part of the 2022 season. WWU Track & Field has now earned 15 GNAC weekly awards so far during the 2021-22 indoor and outdoor seasons:
2021-22 WWU Track & Field – GNAC Athletes of the Week:
RECORD BOOK WATCH
During the early part of the 2022 outdoor season, five program top-10 marks have been achieved by the women's squad. The 2021-22 indoor season featured eight school records (Men – 6 , Women – 2) and 47 program top-10 marks (Men – 25, Women – 22). Here is a look at the top-10 marks so far during the outdoor season:
NEXT UP FOR THE VIKINGS
The Vikings will be spread out throughout the West Coast over spring break with two different meets featuring WWU student-athletes. A group of five women's distance runners will compete in the San Diego State Aztec Invitational on Saturday, March 26. A large group of team members are also scheduled to compete in the UBC Invitational March 26-27 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Western will host the first of two home meets on Saturday, April 2 with the
WWU Invitational at Civic Stadium in Bellingham.
INDOOR ALL-AMERICA HONORS FOR FRANKS
Western Washington University's
Mac Franks earned a pair of All-America honors for his performance at the 2022 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships. Franks placed 6th in the 800m (1:51.88) to earn First Team USTFCCCA All-America honors and was a second-team honoree for his 10th-place performance in the mile. The pair of All-America awards capped a monumental indoor season for Franks, which included setting WWU indoor records in the 800m (1:50.07), mile (4:02.28), 3,000m (8:09.40) and as a member of distance medley relay running the anchor leg (9:50.83).
TITLE AFTER TITLE
The Viking men not only recorded its third straight team title winning the 2021 GNAC Indoor Championships (2019, 2020, 2022), but also the program's seventh all-time for the most in conference history. Dating back to the 2019 season, WWU has won the last five GNAC Track & Field team titles with three indoor trophies and two outdoor championships (2019, 2021).
