LANGLEY, B.C. – The Western Washington University Track & Field team had a successful trip over the border with several standout performances at Saturday's The Battle of Sparta at McLeod Park.

 

Heading into the final stages of the 2026 regular season, the Vikings established seven top 10 program marks, led by a school record time of 47.24 by senior Lucas Brenek in the 400m and a pair of top 10 marks in the hurdles by sophomore Ari Nugyen. 

 

Brenek broke one of the longest standing records in the WWU outdoor record book, clipping the previous mark of 47.25 originally established by Western Athletics Hall of Famer Marc Hill in 1994. Brenek's mark moved up to No. 2 in GNAC history.

 

Nguyen set a pair of PR marks while winning the 400m hurdles (1:01.02) and placing 2nd in the 100m hurdles (14.49). The sophomore is now 4th in program history in the 400m hurdles and 6th in the 100m hurdles.

 

In addition to the seven program top 10 marks, the Vikings recorded 13 event victories (Men: 8, Women 5) and 12 runner-up finishes.

 

• WWU Women's Results
• WWU Men's Results

 

Here are additional highlights for the Vikings from the Battle of Sparta:

 

• Lucas Brenek broke the 32-year-old school record in the 400m running a winning time of 47.24. 
• Ari Nguyen set a PR marks in the 100m hurdles (14.49) and 400m hurdles (1:01.02), both top 10 marks in program history. Established an NCAA II provisional qualifying mark in the in the 400 (No. 26 in nation).
• Nolan Mickenham placed 2nd in the 100m dash running 10.64 (prelims) and 10.53 (final) for a season-best mark that ranks No. 4 in the GNAC this season.
• Women's 4x400 relay team of Casie Kleine, Jayda Darroch, Kennedy Cook and Bec Bennett improved their season-best time to 3:41.74 to lead the GNAC and rank No. 6 in the nation.
• Eli Williams finished runner-up in the 1500m with a PR time of 3:49.06 to move up one spot in the WWU record book to No. 9.
• Men's 4x400 relay team of Jackson Moffitt, Sam Foust, Maurice Woodring and Lucas Brenek recorded a winning time of 3:11.03, just off its time of 3:10.64 set last week in San Diego (No. 13 in NCAA II).
• Freshman Owen Brown and Aaron Paul were co-winners of the men's high jump clearing 1.85m/6-0.75.
• Sophomore Alex Pytte set a pair of PR marks while winning the shot put (15.93m/52-3.25) and placing 2nd in the discus (46.97m/154-1). Pytte registered the No. 9 mark in the shot put in program history.
• Senior Jakob Braunstein won the men's javelin with a throw of 63.85m/209-6.
• Western had 18 competitors in the men's 1500m, with 10 finishing in the top 15 all below the 4-minute mark.
• Freshman Azadeh Teague placed 4th in the women's hammer throw with a PR mark of 49.18m/161-4 for the No. 6 mark in program history.
• Sophomore Jessica Polkinghorn won the women's javelin (41.17m/135-1) and placed 2nd in the shot put (13.88m/45-6.5).
• Junior Jill Philbin led 10 Vikings in the women's 1500m placing 2nd with a season-best time of 4:34.75, trailing only her outdoor PR of 4:30.76 while winning the 2025 GNAC title in the event.
• Freshman Lauren Simicich won the discus with a throw of 42.73m/140-2, just off her PR mark of 42.83m/140-6 set last weekend in San Diego.

 

WWU sent a pair of student-athletes to compete the CWU Wildcat Invitational in Ellensburg on Saturday. Freshman Khloe Huskic placed 3rd in the women's triple jump with a mark of 11.05m/36-3. Freshman Illia Beizak placed 6th in the men's high jump clearing an outdoor PR of 1.86m/6-0.

 

WWU is back in action next weekend sending a group of student-athletes to Southern California to compete in the Bryan Clay Invitational (Azusa, CA), Mt. SAC Relays (Walnut, CA), Pacific Coast Invite (Long Beach, CA) and the Beach Invitational (Long Beach, CA). Links to follow results from all competitions are listed on the 2026 schedule at WWUVikings.com.