SEATTLE, Wash. – A day after shattering six school records and making 19 entries into the program top 10 record book, the Western Washington University Track & Field team was back at it again Saturday at Mile City.
 
WWU's heralded distance program took center stage with 26 student-athletes competing in the mile at Dempsey Indoor on the University of Washington campus. Saturday's meet featured only one event, with 772 entries to run the mile. The Vikings recorded five new program top 10 marks with one school record.
 
The Viking women were led by senior Sophie Wright setting the school record clocking 4:52.16 to finish 38th out of 54 runners in the invitational section of the mile. Junior Emmy Kroontje moved up to No. 3 in WWU history with a time of 4:55.11 and senior Mia Crocker backed up her solid 800m race on Friday with a 4:55.37 in the mile to rank No. 4 in WWU history. All three times were under the NCAA II provisional qualifying standard of 4:55.64. Sophomore Jill Philbin also recorded a top 10 time clocking 5:01.17 to rank No. 9 in program history. Senior Ila Davis, the previous record holder at 4:52.81, finished 48th in the invitational with a time of 4:59.60.
 
WWU senior Kevin McDermott represented the program in the stacked invitational field placing 32nd out of 53 racers with a time of 4:06.20 for the top time among non-Division I or unattached runners. McDermott achieved an NCAA provisional qualifying mark below the 4:08.81 standard. McDermott won the mile at last year's GNAC Indoor Championships and is the school record holder in the event at 4:02.13 set at last year's inaugural Mile City.
 
In the regular portion of the men's mile there were 26 heats and 449 competitors, with junior Will Henry finishing 3rd with a PR in 4:09.75 to improve his No. 6 ranking in the WWU indoor record book. Junior Ian Eifert finished 26th in 4:18.05 and sophomore George Fernandez was 28th in 4:18.24.
 
Freshman Liam Rapp (Heat 20, 4:22.19) won his heat to also highlight an excellent day of racing for the Vikings.
  The Vikings return to action next week with a group of student-athletes traveling to Moscow, Idaho for the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open inside the Kibbie Dome on the University of Idaho campus. The complete indoor schedule is available online at WWUVikings.com.