BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Another week and two more GNAC Athlete of the Week awards for the Western Washington University Track & Field program.
 
Following a great two-meet weekend at Civic Stadium hosting the inaugural Pee Wee Halsell Invitational and the 43rd Ralph Vernacchia Invitational, senior distance runner Kevin McDermott was announced as the GNAC Men's Track Athlete of the Week and senior thrower Katie Potts earned her school-record ninth conference weekly honor.
 
Potts (Everett, WA/Glacier Peak HS) opened a full weekend of competition with a record-breaking performance in her featured discus event. Potts recorded a PR throw of 48.15m/157-11 at the Halsell Invitational to break the longest standing WWU throws school record of 47.61m/156-2 set in 2006 by Jessica Telleria. The big throw moved Potts up to No. 5 on the all-time GNAC performance list and moved her into a tie for 17th nationally.
 
McDermott (Port Orchard, WA/South Kitsap HS) set the WWU outdoor mile record with a winning time of 4:02.32, converting to a 1500m time of 3:44.37 to rank No. 6 in GNAC history. The standout performance lifted McDermott to No. 15 on the NCAA Division II national performance list in the 1,500m earning him his fourth GNAC Runner of the Week honor in his historic career.
 
WWU has earned 20 GNAC Track & Field Athlete of the Week awards so far during the 2024-25 season across the indoor and outdoor seasons to set the program record, breaking the 18 awards from 2023-24 and 2021-22.
  The Vikings will send a small group of athletes to the OSU High Performance Meet in Corvallis, Oregon on Saturday, with a majority of the team resting up for the GNAC Outdoor Championships that will be held May 9-10 at Civic Stadium in Bellingham. 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.