VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Western Washington University had a successful trip to the 2026 NCAA II Indoor Track & Field Championships earning seven All-America awards.
 
Junior Emmy Kroontje highlighted the performances earning a 5th place finish in the 800m, running a school record time of 2:08.38. The Lynden native earned her second All-America award also earning first-team honors in 2025 as a member of the DMR. Kroontje set a personal-best time of 2:08.38 to break the school record of 2:08.57 set by All-American Marian Ledesma in 2024. She earned the GNAC's 26th indoor All-America award in the event, and it was the best-ever finish by a Viking as she joined 2009 7th-place finisher Rachael Johnson and 2024 8th-place finisher Ledesma.
 
The 4x400-meter relay squad earned First Team All-America honors with a 7th-place finish, as the Vikings closed the meet with a season-best time of 3:42.36 minutes for the second-fastest indoor time in GNAC history, breaking their own school record. The quartet of freshman Casie Kleine, sophomore Jayda Darroch, junior Kennedy Cook and senior Bec Bennett combined for just the eighth top-8 finish by a women's 4x400-meter relay team in GNAC history. It was the second-best national finish by Western Washington, which placed 4th in the event at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships.
 
Bennett earned her second straight indoor All-America honor in the women's 400-meters, placing 8th in the final on Saturday. Bennett ran a time of 54.40 seconds, earning the league's fourth All-America finish in the event and becoming the first-ever with multiple such honors in the 400 meters after placing 7th last season.
 
Sophomore Jessica Polkinghorn placed 10th in the shot put finishing in 10th place with a mark of 14.64m/58-0.5 to earn Second Team All-America honors. Polkinghorn narrowly missed the top eight for a podium spot. The sophomore also finished 10th at the 2025 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the shot pot in Pueblo, Colorado. During the season Polkinghorn established the program record with a throw of 15.19m/49-10 for the No. 4 mark in GNAC history.
Junior Kora Cook placed 18th in the high jump competition on Friday clearing 1.63m/5-4.25 on her second attempt, but missed at 1.68m/5-6 to just miss second-team All-America honors.
 
WWU finished with seven points to tie for 29th place at indoor nationals for the best program finish since placing 23rd with 14 points in 2015.
 
The 2025-26 indoor season was highlighted by the Vikings winning their third consecutive GNAC Indoor title.