By: Jeff Evans, Assistant AD for Athletic Communications
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington Track & Field women's and men's 4x400 relay teams each broke the school record over the weekend, with the dynamic performances landing the squads GNAC Track Athlete of the Week.
The women's 4x400 relay smashed the previous school record running 3:40.87 at the Battle of Sparta Saturday in Langley, BC 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 break the record of 3:14.03 set earlier this season at the Oregon Preview. The new school record is now No. 3 in GNAC history, just 0.13 seconds shy of the GNAC record of 3:10.60 set by Alaska Anchorage in 2016, and currently No. 12 on the NCAA national performance list.
UP NEXT FOR THE VIKS
The Vikings are back in action this week 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 few weeks 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.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
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.
