SPOKANE, Wash. – The Vikings didn't show much rust in their season-opening track & field meet Saturday at the Spokane Invitational with five school records being set and 23 program top 10 marks established.
 
WWU sent a large contingent of student-athletes across the state to The Podium in Spokane to mark the early opening of the 2024-25 indoor season.
 
"This was a really encouraging opener for us. Our veteran athletes showed great progress and the newcomers had a lot of promising performances," said WWU Track & Field Head Coach Ben Stensland. "This gives us some great momentum going into the break and I think we're all very excited about the season ahead."
 
The Vikings season-opening performances also resulted five NCAA II provisional qualifying marks.
 
Junior Bec Bennett, a newcomer that has past international experience with the Australian national team, was part of three school records while making her Viking debut. Bennett crushed the school indoor 400m record winning the event in 54.73 for the second-fastest time in GNAC history, breaking the old record of 56.23 set by Ellie Siler in 2009. Bennett equaled Siler's school record in the 200m with a time of 25.03. She was also part of the school-record 4x400m winning relay with a time of 3:48.62. Bennett's early-season 400m mark is No. 2 in the nation, well below the provisional qualifying mark of 56.66.
 
Sophomore Kora Cook established the school high jump record – indoor or outdoor – with a leap of 1.76m/5-9.25 to win the event in a jump off against Emy Ntekpere from Central Washington. Cook's jump is tied for third in GNAC history and broke the previous school record of 1.74m/5-8.5 by Miranda Osadchey in 2016. She is ranked No. 2 in the nation with a mark that puts her in good position to qualify for indoor nationals.
 
Freshman Jessica Polkinghorn won the shot put with a throw of 13.98m/45-10.5 to set the indoor school record in her Western debut, the 10th-best mark in GNAC history. Freshman Kathryn Chapin (6th, 12.33m/40-5.5) and sophomore Rylee Andrews (7th, 12.16m/39-10.75) also established program top 10 marks in the event. Chapin added the No. 7 weight throw mark in her WWU debut with a toss of 14.39m/47-2.5.
 
Junior Hannah Polkinghorn, the older sister of Jessica, also had a standout day with a pair of top-10 program marks and helped in the school record 4x400 relay. Polkinghorn set a PR in the 60m dah with a time of 7.91 for the No. 9 mark in WWU history and clocked 25.64 in the 200m for the No. 6 mark.
 
Sophomore Kennedy Cook also had a standout day on the track finishing 3rd in the 400m in a time of 56.02, a mark that would have set the school record but is now No. 2 behind Bennett. Cook also was part of the school-record winning 4x400 relay team.
 
Senior Caitlyn Cheney set a PR in the 200m in 25.36 and was Western's top finisher in the 60m dash advancing to the semifinals with a prelim time of 7.77. Cheney is WWU's indoor record holder in the event with a personal best time of 7.66 set last indoor season.
 
The Viking men were led by a strong group of sprinters that combined to make eight entries in the program record book in the 60m and 200m races. Senior Nolan Mickenham recorded a pair of indoor PR marks with a 6.91 in the 60m dash (tied for 3rd) and equaled his best mark at 21.75 in the 200m (2nd).
 
Freshman Cameron Trichel, a standout from Newport High School in Bellevue, recorded the 6th-best 60m time in program history (6.96) and 9th-best in the 200m (22.16). Freshmen twins Isaac Ford and Evin Ford both entered the top 10 in the 200m and were part of the school-record 4x400 relay team.
 
Senior Brian Le moved up to No. 3 in program history in the 200m with a time of 21.93 and ran the final leg of the school-record 4x400 relay. The time enters the GNAC record book as 9th-fastest in conference history.
 
The 4x400 relay team of Isaac Ford, Evin Ford, Sam Foust and Brian Le clocked 3:16.37 to break the old mark of 3:16.81 set in 2014. WWU finished second in the event behind Grand Canyon.
  The Vikings return to action following the holiday break with competition resuming Friday, January 17 at the UW Indoor Preview at Dempsey Indoor. The Mile City event will take place on Saturday on the University of Washington campus beginning at 10 am. The complete indoor schedule is available online at WWUVikings.com.