BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University Track & Field program hosts the 40th Annual Ralph Vernacchia Invitational on Saturday at Civic Stadium in Bellingham.
 
The all-day track meet is scheduled to begin with the men's hammer throw at 10 am and conclude with the men's 4x400 relay at 5:15 pm. All meet information, updated schedule and live results can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/Vernacchia.
 
This is the 40th edition of the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational, named in the honor of one of the legends of the WWU Track & Field program. As the WWU Track & Field head coach he led the Vikings to one cross country and seven track & field district titles, as well as countless NAIA All-Americans and NAIA Scholar-Athletes. He was inducted into the WWU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.
 
The Vernacchia meet is serving as one of the final meets of the 2022 regular season, with five Vikings scheduled to compete in the GNAC Combined Event Championships Monday and Tuesday at Civic Stadium and a handful of distance runners tentatively scheduled to compete on Saturday, May 7 at the Portland Twilight at Lewis & Clark College. The GNAC Outdoor Championships will be held May 13-14 at the CWU Recreation Sports Complex in Ellensburg.
 
The Vikings enter this weekend with the men ranked No. 4 and women No. 8 in the West Region. In the USTFCCCA conference ratings, the WWU men are No. 1 in the GNAC and women listed No. 2.
 
The Vikings are coming off a successful meet last weekend at the CWU Wildcat Invitational in Ellensburg, with five program top 10 marks established.
 
Throughout the 2022 season, WWU has recorded 12 NCAA provisional qualifying marks (by nine student-athletes), set two school records (both by Mac Franks) and made 24 entries into the program's top-10 record book (Men – 15, Women – 9).
 
In addition to making a large dent in the WWU record book, WWU's men's distance crew has recorded five marks that are in the GNAC all-time top-10 record book.
  One of the featured events at the Vernacchia Invitational Saturday will be the return of the mile to the schedule. WWU Track & Field historian Paul Scovel has shared with us a few tidbits on the event. Since the change to metric distances in 1976, the Mile has shown in Western results only a handful of times as schools converted to 400-meter tracks. Here is a look at the school records for the outdoor mile for the men and women:
 

MEN'S MILE	TIME	YEAR	WOMEN'S MILE	TIME	YEAR
Devin Kemper	4:11.50	1999	Katelyn Steen	4:58.66	2014
Jordan Welling	4:12.00	2011	Taylor Guenther	5:07.62	2014
Bill Cliff	4:13.6h	1968	Haley O'Connor	5:11.71	2015
Braden Timpe	4:13.98	2012	Peggy Sherrill	5:16.6h	1977
Anthony Tomsich	4:14.60	2010	Tina Stimson	5:18.89	2004
Scott Taylor	4:16.2h	1970	Barb Bentley	5:23.2h	1979
Nick Roehl	4:16.5h	1977	Deanne Nienhuis	5:24.96	1994
Don Trethewey	4:16.8h	1961	Lisa Riedel	5:27.2h	1980
Nick Abraham	4:16.85	2011	Brittany Grant	5:28.47	2014
Erik Meyer	4:17.53	1998	Brenna Condon	5:28.58	2015

  During a break in competition at the Vernacchia Invitational, the Vikings 29 seniors will be recognized for their contributions to the program. Help us honor and celebrate this group that has been through a few tumultuous seasons with the pandemic, all while continuing to grow as student-athletes and great representatives of Western Washington University.
  WWU will serve as the host for the 2022 GNAC Combined Championships May 2-3 at Civic Stadium in Bellingham. The Vikings will have five competitors in the championships, with Cooper Cummings, Ryan Kenny and Trent Kibler competing in the 10-event decathlon and Matty Lagerwey and Leanne Kibbee in the seven-event heptathlon. The championships field includes nine competitors in the decathlon and eight in the heptathlon. Points earned during the combined championships will towards the team standings for the GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Live results can be followed via GNAC.live. The Vikings men's distance crew ranks No. 1 in the Steeplechase and No. 2 in the 1500m via the USTFCCCA Event Squad rankings. The steeplechase crew of Mac Franks (8:52.50), Jeret Gillingham (8:59.42), Drew Weber (9:12.55) and Kaleb Korta (9:16.40) have a combined time of 36:20.57 and an average of 9:05.14 to finish just ahead of Western Colorado. The 1500m foursome of Franks (3:42.22), Calahan Warren (3:43.00), Weber (3:45.77) and Kevin McDermott (3:48.46) is ranked No. 2 behind Adams State with a combined time of 14:59.45 (3:44.86 avg). The men's high jump crew is also No. 5 and 800m is No. 10.
 
The USTFCCCA has developed #EventSquad rankings that order to a program's "squad" of athletes in a particular event, using the cumulative season-best qualifying marks from a team's top-four ranked athletes on the national descending-order list. A team must have four or more athletes with a valid season-best mark recorded with TFRRS to achieve a ranking in a particular event.
  WWU Track & Field has earned 16 GNAC weekly awards so far during the 2021-22 indoor and outdoor seasons:
 
2021-22 WWU Track & Field – GNAC Athletes of the Week:

• Aliyah Dawkins (Nov. 29-Dec. 5)
• Cooper Cummings (Nov. 29-Dec. 5)
• Mac Franks (Dec. 6-12)
• Ethan Sterkel (Jan. 10-16)
• Ethan Sterkel (Jan. 24-30)
• Ethan Sterkel (Jan. 31-Feb. 6)
• Ethan Sterkel (Feb. 21-27)
• Mac Franks (Feb. 21-27)
• Aliyah Dawkins (Feb. 21-27)
• Mia Crocker (Feb. 21-27)
• Amanda Short (Feb. 28-March 6
• Sean Sands (Feb. 28-March 6)
• Ila Davis (March 7-13)
• Raine Westfall (March 7-13)
• Amanda Short (March 28-April 3)
• Damian Mercado (April 4-10)

  At the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 15 Mac Franks, Calahan Warren and Drew Weber ran the top three times in WWU history in the 1,500. Franks finished in a time of 3:42.22, Warren ran 3:43.00 and Weber ran 3:45.77. Franks set the WWU record, ranks No. 4 on the GNAC all-time list and is No. 6 in Division II this season. Warren ranks No. 5 on the GNAC all-time list and is No. 9 in Division II this season while Weber is No. 10 on the GNAC all-time and 19th in Division II.
  Mac Franks is putting together one of the best seasons in WWU Track & Field history between the indoor and outdoor season. Here is a look at his awards, honors and marks from the 2022 season:
 

• First Team Indoor All-American in the Mile (also competed in the 800m)
• Indoor WWU Records: 800m (1:50.07), Mile (4:02.28), 3000m (8:09.40), DMR (9:50.83)
• Outdoor WWU Records: 1500m (3:42.22), Steeplechase (8:52.50)
• Two-time GNAC Track Athlete of the Week (both indoor season)
• Seven WWU top-10 marks during the indoor and outdoor season

  The WWU female distance trio of Mia Crocker, Sophie Wright and Ila Davis have helped put several new entries in the program outdoor record book. Crocker is tied for 5th in the 1500m (4:32.34) and No. 8 in the 800m (2:14.00), with Wright No. 7 in the 1500m (4:32.59) and No. 6 in the 800m (2:13.78). Davis has a national qualifying mark in the steeplechase in 10:51.21 for the No. 5 time in WWU history.
  The Vikings have recorded 12 NCAA provisional qualifying marks this season by nine different student-athletes. Here is a look at those marks and where they rank in the nation (as of April 28):
 

• Amanda Short: Javelin (No. 4, 47.48m/155-9)
• Mac Franks: 1500m (No. 6, 3:42.22), Steeplechase (No. 8, 8:52.50)
• Ila Davis: Steeplechase (No. 24, 10:51.21)
• Jeret Gillingham: Steeplechase (No. 14, 8:59.42)
• Calahan Warren: 1500m (No. 9, 3:43.00), 5000m (No. 30, 14:13.90)
• Drew Weber: 1500m (No. 19, 3:45.77), Steeplechase (No. 29, 9:12.25)
• Kevin McDermott: 1500m (No. 42, 3:48.46)
• Mia Crocker: 1500m (No. 51, 4:32.34)
• Sophie Wright: 1500m (No. 53, 4:32.59)

  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).