BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University Track & Field program had another banner weekend of competition setting two relay school records at The Battle of Sparta Saturday at McLeod Athletic Park in Langley, B.C.

 

WWU's 4x400 relay teams stole the spotlight with both the women's and men's squads setting school records in the meet hosted by Trinity Western University.

 

The women's 4x400 relay smashed the previous school record running 3:40.87 to also set the GNAC record. The quartet of Bec Bennett, Annabelle Heiman, Caitlyn Cheney and Kennedy Cook recorded an NCAA II provisional qualifying mark that ranks No. 5 in the nation. The 3:40.87 obliterated the 28-year-old previous record by nearly seven seconds, with 3:47.37 standing as the school mark since 1997. The previous GNAC record was 3:41.17 set by Simon Fraser in 2022.

 

The men's 4x400 relay broke the school record for the second time this season, this time with seniors Brian Le and Ryan Greenwalt and freshman twins Evin Ford and Isaac Ford running 3:10.73 to shatter the previous record of 3:14.03 set earlier this season at the Oregon Preview. The new school record is now No. 3 in GNAC history.

 

The men's middle distance crew also had a fine showing in Langley with five runners running sub 3:53 in the 1500m, all placing in the top 10 in the event.

 

The WWU men won the team standings scoring 193.0 points, well ahead of second-place Trinity Western with 91.0 points. The Viking women placed 2nd with 126.0 points trailing only UBC with 198.0 points.

 

Here is a listing of additional top-10 program marks set Saturday at the Battle of Sparta, with nine program top 10 marks and two school records entered into the historical archives:

 

• Jonah Bloom: Placed 2nd in 1500m in PR time of 3:50.47 to rank No. 9 in program history.
• Eli Williams: Placed 3rd in 1500m in PR time of 3:50.56 to rank No. 10 in program history.
• Hunter Flick: Ran PR time of 14.64 in the 110m hurdles to remain at No. 6 in WWU history.
• Bec Bennett: Entered WWU record book in 100m at No. 4 running 12.03.
• Annabelle Heiman: Tied for 6th in program history with PR time of 12.19 in 100m
• Mia Crocker: Set PR in 1500m running 4:30.46 to rank 4th in WWU history.
• Hannah Polkinghorn: Set PR in long jump with a mark of 5.72m/18-9.5 to rank 8th in program history.

 

The Vikings are back in action next weekend sending student-athletes to three meets in Southern California (Bryan Clay Invitational, Pacific Coast Invitational, La Verne Leopard Invite) and locally to the two-day Wildcat Invitational in Ellensburg. WWU will host four home meets over the next month with the Pee Wee Halsell Collegiate Invite (April 25), Ralph Vernacchia Invitational (April 26), GNAC Multis Championships (April 28-29) and the GNAC Outdoor Championships (May 9-10) in Bellingham at Civic Stadium. The complete 2025 WWU Track & Field schedule can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/TF.

 

The Vikings swept the team titles at the 2025 GNAC Indoor Championships earning the title of conference indoor champions for the second consecutive season. Dating back to the 2022 calendar year, the WWU men have won nine of 10 possible titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor, while the women have combined for seven of 10 titles. The Western track & field and cross country program has a current string of 12 consecutive team titles across men's and women's dating back to the 2023 outdoor championships.