TACOMA, Wash. – The Western Washington University Track & Field program had another standout early-season performance over the weekend at a trio of meets.

 

The bulk of the team competed in Tacoma at the Brad Moore Invitational hosted by PLU, with the many of the sprint group making its outdoor season debut. An all-around great team performance was bolstered by distance and javelin competing at the OSU PNW Invite in Corvallis.

 

In Tacoma, WWU recorded a pair of lopsided team victories with the men's squad scoring 274.0 points with seven event victories and the women's team tallying 219.0 points with nine event wins. The Vikings totaled 16 events wins, 15 second-place finishes and 11 bronze medals for 42 total podium finishes.

 

Sophomore sprinter Eliyah Dominique led the men's squad with 18.0 individual points winning the 200m dash in 21.84 and placing 2nd in the 100m with a time of 10.87. Sophomore Corbin Herron also totaled 18.0 points winning the 110m hurdles in 14.75 and placed 2nd in the 400m hurdles in 54.18.

 

Junior All-American Maurice Woodring made his outdoor debut with a winning performance in his marquee 400m hurdles event, running a speedy 52.09 for an early-season NCAA II provisional qualifying mark (below the 53.06 mark) to rank inside the top 10 in the nation.

 

WWU's 4x100 (40.72) and 4x400 (3:12.31) both recorded victories notching top 10 marks in program history. The 4x100 team of Lucas Brenek, Nolan Mickingham, Jackson Moffittand Dominique moved up to No. 2 in program history and No. 4 in GNAC history. The 4x400 squad of Brenek, Woodring, Moffitt and Evin Ford clocked the No. 3 time in program history to rank No. 8 in GNAC history.

 

Redshirt freshman Javonte Sutton clocked a winning time of 10.70 in the 100m dash to tie for 10th-best in program history.

 

A pair of program top 10 times were achieved in the 400m, with Brenek setting an outdoor PR in 47.68 to move up to No. 4 in WWU history, just outside the conference top 10. Sophomore Sam Foust placed 2nd in the event with a PR time of 48.24 to crack the program top 10 list in the No. 9 spot.

 

The throws crew continued its strong early part of the season with seven top-10 finishes in the discus, led by winner Liam Wall (54.72m/179-6), five in the top 10 in the shot put with Connor Inman placing 2nd (15.54m/51-0) and four in the top five in the hammer throw with Angelo Ramos winning with a throw of 56.12m/184-1 for the third-longest throw of his career.

 

The women's sprint crew largely made its season debut at the Brad Moore Invitational with several winning performances, highlighted by a pair of top-10 program marks in the 4x100 and 4x400 relay.

 

The 4x100 relay clocked 46.99 to rank No. 4 in program history and the 4x400 relay entered the WWU record book running a time of 3:52.75 for No. 10.

 

Sophomore Ari Nguyen recorded a pair of wins taking the top spot in the 100m hurdles (14.87) and 400m hurdles (1:02.35), while also running the opening leg of the winning 4x100 relay team (46.99).

 

Freshman Azadeh Teague won the discus competition with a throw of 42.13m/138-2, placed 2nd in the hammer throw with the No. 7 throw in program history (47.86m/157-0) and placed 5th in the shot put (10.90m/35-9.25).

 

Sophomore Kathryn Chapin was a double-winner in the throws taking the top spot in Friday's hammer throw (51.02m/167-4) and Saturday's shot put (14.17m/46-6).

 

Senior Hannah Polkinghorn put in a well-rounded meet winning the long jump (5.21m/17-1.25), placed 3rd in the 200m (25.18) and was part of both winning relay teams.

 

Coming off an All-America performance last weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships, senior Bec Bennett made her outdoor season debut winning the 200m (24.47) and placing 2nd in the 100m (12.25).

 

Sophomore Jessica Polkinghorn won the javelin with an NCAA II provisional qualifying mark of 43.10m/141-5, setting a PR in the event.

 

Junior Sydney Mohlman won the pole vault competition clearing 3.65m/11-11.75.

 

WWU also sent a small group of athletes to Corvallis, Oregon to compete in the OSU PNW Invite, hosted by Oregon State University. Friday evening the distance runners took center stage with eight competitors in the 5000m and one in the 1500m. Sophomore George Fernandez placed 2nd out of 61 competitors with a personal-best mark of 14:20.11 to rank No. 7 in program history. Sophomore Sten Brakstad placed 5th in 14:23.32 for a PR and tied for 9th in program history. Fernandez, Brakstad, senior Logan Werner (14:42.45), senior Diego Rodriguez (14:47.15) and sophomore Liam Rapp (15:10.59) all recorded PR times in the event. Freshman Nate Rumberger raced in the 1500m placing 8th with a time of 3:57.07.

 

The Vikings had three men's javelin competitors in Corvallis, led by a 3rd-place finish from senior Jakob Braunstein with a mark of 64.30m/210-11.0. Braunstein fell short of his season-opening mark of 66.50m/218-2 that entered the weekend ranked No. 4 in the nation. Senior Sean Witters (8th, 57.37m/188-2.0) and senior Andrew Nelson (13th, 52.67/172-9.0) also represented Western.

 

Freshman Chance Leandro got the chance to compete close to his home in Ventura, California, racing in the 1500m at the Mark Conover Classic hosted by Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Leandro recorded a PR placing 16th out of 34 competitors with a time of 4:02.97.

 

The Vikings will have plenty of action during spring break, beginning with the multis competing Monday and Tuesday at the Pacific Multis in Forest Grove, Oregon. All-American Bec Bennett will compete at the Raleigh Relays in North Carolina, and a few Vikings will be in competition at the West Coast Relays next weekend in Clovis, California. Western will sent a group over the border next weekend to compete in the UBC Open in Vancouver. Links to follow results from all competitions are listed on the 2026 schedule at WWUVikings.com.