BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University Track & Field program opens a busy month of April competing Saturday in the Emilie Mondor Invitational hosted by Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C.
 
WWU will send a large contingent of student-athletes to the meet at SFU Stadium at Terry Fox Field, with the Vikings competing against SFU, University of British Columbia and Seattle Pacific University.
 
The Vikings enter the meet with the men's squad ranked No. 14 nationally and No. 3 in the West Region, with the women checking in at No. 8 in the West Region.
 
Through the first month of the outdoor season, WWU has recorded 20 marks in the top 30 nationally, 11 NCAA Championships provisional qualifying marks, 24 program top-10 marks and one school record.
 
The Mondor Invitational opens a busy month with the Vikings back in California next weekend scheduled to compete at the Bryan Clay Invitational and a few other surrounding meets in the Los Angeles area. WWU will also travel to Ellensburg for the Wildcat Invitational on April 22 and host the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational at Civic Stadium in Bellingham on April 29.
  Here is meet information for the 2023 Emilie Mondor Invitational hosted by Simon Fraser University. There will be no live results, but final/official results will be shared immediately following competition on wwuvikings.com and TFRRS. Here is the meet schedule and information:
 

• Meet Schedule
• Meet Information

  The WWU men's squad climbed five spots in the national rankings, moving from No. 19 to No. 14 in the USTFCCCA TFRI (Track & Field Ratings Index). The men's squad is also listed No. 3 in the West Region and the women's team is listed No. 8 in the region.
 

  The 2023 USTFCCCA Event Squad rankings made its outdoor debut this week with WWU listed in the top five nationally in several events. The Event Squad rankings places a rank 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. As with the national descending-order list for qualifying and seeding purposes, marks are subject to be converted due to track size and/or altitude. 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. Here is a look at WWU's top event squad rankings:
 
Men's Event Squad Rankings:

• 5,000m: No. 1 (57:18.54 total, 14:19.63 average)
• 10,000m: No. 2 (1:59:05 total, 29:46.37 average)
• Steeplechase: No. 2 (37:43.90 total, 9:25.98 average)
• 1500m: No. 8 (15:28.54 total, 3:52.13 average)
• Long Jump: No. 8 (26.99m 88-6.75 total, 6.75m 22-1.75 average)
• 400m Hurdles: No. 9 (3:48.38 total, 57.10 average)

 
Women's Event Squad Rankings:

• Steeplechase: No. 3 (45:34.48 total, 11:23.62 average)
• 800m: No. 5 (8:58.53 total, 2:14.63 average)
• 10,000m: No. 6 (2:32:44, 38:11.05 average)
• 1500m: No. 7 (18:31.84 total, 4:37.96 average)

  Here is a listing of top performances this season that have entered the all-time WWU top 10 in program history:
 

• George Karamitsos: 10,000m (No. 1, 29:40.69), 5,000m (No. 5, 14:17.33)
• Ila Davis: 3,000m Steeplechase (No. 2, 10:21.10)
• Andrew Oslin: 10,000m (No. 2, 29:41.91), 5,000m (No. 6, 14:22.73)
• Marian Ledesma: 800m (No. 2, 2:12.54)
• Kevin McDermott: 5,000m (No. 2, 14:11.90), 10,000m (No. 4, 29:48.23)
• Jeret Gillingham: 10,000m (No. 5, 29:54.66)
• 4x100m Relay: E. Johnson, Mickenham, Greenwalt, N. Johnson (No. 4, 41.52)
• Katie Potts: Discus (No. 5, 44.27m/145-3)
• Brian Le: 400m (No. 6, 48.35)
• Mia Crocker: 800m (No. 6, 2:13.41), 1500m (No. 5, 4:31.56)
• Caitlyn Cheney: 100m (No. 7, 12.22), 200m (No. 7, 25.14)
• Angelo Ramos: Hammer Throw (No. 7, 53.99m/177-1)
• Miller Campbell: Hammer Throw (No. 8, 53.93m/176-11)
• Ryan Clough: 10,000m (No. 8, 29:55.94), 5,000m (No. 8, 14:26.58)
• Nolan Mickenham: 100m (No. 8, 10.77)
• Meaera Shannon: 10,000m (No. 8, 37:23.82)
• Jonah Bloom: 800m (No. 10, 1:52.59)
• Ashley Reeck: 3000m Steeplechase (No. 10, 11:37.50)

  Here is a look at the Vikings that have recorded NCAA Championships Provisional Qualifying marks for the 2023 outdoor season and where they currently rank in the nation for NCAA Division II:
 

• Ila Davis: Steeplechase (No. 2, 10:21.10)
• Mia Crocker: 1500m (No. 14, 4:31.56)
• Kevin McDermott: 5000m (No. 6, 14:11.90), 10,000m (No. 10, 29:48.23)
• George Karamitsos: 10,000m (No. 5, 29:40.69), 5000m (No. 11, 14:17.33)
• Andrew Oslin: 10,000m (No. 7, 29:41.91), 5000m (No. 17, 14:2.73)
• Jeret Gillingham: Steeplechase (No. 4, 8:55.62), 10,000m (29:54.66)
• Ryan Clough: 10,000m (No. 16, 29:55.94)

  WWU is celebrating 100 years of the outdoor track & field program, with the varsity history of the program going all the way back to the first season in 1923. Track historian Paul Scovel researched and compiled a comprehensive history of the program in a document found online at WWUVikings.com/TF.   The 41st Ralph Vernacchia Invitational will be held on Saturday, April 29 at Civic Stadium in Bellingham. The complete 2023 WWU Track & Field schedule can be viewed online at WWUVikings.com/TF.