Portland & McMinnville, Ore. – The Western Washington University Track & Field program wrapped up the regular-season of the schedule competing in a pair of meets in Oregon on Saturday.
 
WWU had a small contingent compete at the Portland Twilights on the Eldon Fix Track at Griswold Stadium on the Lewis & Clark College campus and one student-athlete compete at the Linfield Open in McMinnville. 
 
Junior Kevin McDermott (1500m) and sophomore Jonah Bloom (800m) highlighted WWU's performances with personal-best performances to notch program top-10 times. Junior Drew Weber also placed 5th in the 800m finishing just ahead of Bloom.
 
The GNAC Track & Field Outdoor Championships are next up for the Vikings May 12-13 (Friday-Saturday) in Monmouth, Oregon.
  Sophomore Kevin McDermott continued his solid season setting a PR in the 1500m while placing 4th out of 61 finishers at the Portland Twilight in 3:48.17. McDermott improved his NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark while remaining No. 7 in WWU history. McDermott bested his previous season-best time of 3:48.47 set last weekend at the Vernacchia Invitational and passes his previous PR of 3:48.46 set at the UBC Open in 2022. Junior Drew Weber helped set the pace of the race before dropping out and former Viking All-American Calahan Warren placed 17th in 3:52.40 while running unattached.

TF🎽 | Congrats to Kevin McDermott on his 4th-place finish in the 1500m at the Portland Twilight, setting a PR in 3:48.17 to remain at No. 7 in @wwutfxc history. His NCAA Championships Provisional Qualifying mark is in the top 45 in the nation! pic.twitter.com/ppJ4cvWf43
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) May 7, 2023

  Junior Drew Weber and sophomore Jonah Bloom finished side-by-side in the seventh heat of the 800m, with Weber edging Bloom by 1/100th of a second. Weber placed 5th overall and 2nd among NCAA Division II runners in 1:50.68, with Bloom crossing the finish line in a personal-best time of 1:50.69 to jump one spot to No. 4 in WWU outdoor history. Weber will head into the GNAC Championships as the top seed in his marquee event with a season-best time of 1:49.34 and Bloom is 3rd in the conference with his PR time set today at the Portland Twilight.

TF🎽 | Congrats to Jonah Bloom on running another PR in the 800m, moving up to No. 4 in @wwutfxc history with his time of 1:50.69 while placing 6th at the Portland Twilight. Every time Jonah takes the track he gets better and better! pic.twitter.com/QhPNvj9jMa
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) May 7, 2023

  Junior Marian Ledesma placed 9th in the women's 800m in a time of 2:11.82, the top time amongst non-Division I or club competitors. WWU assistant coach Haley O'Connor placed 3rd in 2:08.18 while running for the Bellingham Distance Project.
  Sophomores Mia Crocker (14th, 4:38.30) and Sophie Wright (21st, 4:44.49) were among 41 competitors that finished the 1500m at the Portland Twilight. Both fell short of their season-best performances as they continue to get ready for the GNAC Championships. Crocker (4:31.56), Wright (4:32.90) and teammates Ila Davis (4:33.73) and Ashley Reeck (4:33.80) are ranked 3-4-5-6 in the conference heading into the outdoor championships.
  Freshman Jaden Johnson represented WWU at the Linfield Open, racing in the 100m and 200m. Johnson placed 5th in the 200m in a time of 22.71 and 10th in the 100m in 11.32. 
  Freshman Jaelin McQueen placed 11th in the 100m in 11.98, just off his PR time of 11.96 and was 2nd in the 400m Hurdles in 1:01.08.
  The Vikings turn their attention to the postseason with the GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships held next Friday-Saturday (May 12-13) at McArthur Field in Monmouth, Oregon on the campus of Western Oregon University. The WWU men's squad will be going after its fourth consecutive team outdoor title and the women's team will look to continue its surge that has placed 2nd at the last two conference outdoor championships. Complete coverage of the conference championships will be available at GNACSports.com.
  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.