By: Jeff Evans, Assistant AD for Athletic Communications
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – With great weather in the forecast the Western Washington University Track & Field program is set to host a pair of home meets this weekend with the second annual Pee Wee Halsell Invitational on Friday and the 44th Ralph Vernacchia Invitational on Saturday at Civic Stadium.
The two home meets will also feature high school student-athletes competing to make for a busy two days at Civic Stadium.
Making their lone appearance in home meets this season, the Vikings are enjoying another successful season with the men's team ranked No. 17 nationally and No. 1 in the West Region and the women No. 32 in NCAA Division II and No. 3 in the West Region.
Through the first two months of the outdoor season, the team has set eight school records, established 53 program top 10 marks and recorded 28 NCAA II provisional qualifying marks.
Competition opens Friday with the women's discus at 9 am and closes with the running events at 7 pm. Saturday's Vernacchia schedule begins at 9:30 am with women's hammer throw and concludes with the 4x400 relays starting at 6 pm.
A detailed listing of meet information, including event schedule, live results and meet history can be viewed online at
WWUVikings.com.
Ticket Prices:
- Adult: $12
- Non WWU Student/Senior/WWU Employee: $8
- WWU Students: Free
- Parking: Free
- Card Only (no cash) at Civic Stadium
THE VERNACCHIA INVITATIONAL
The Ralph Vernacchia Invitational is named in honor of the former mentor of the Track & Field and Cross Country programs at Western Washington University. Ralph's career included one cross country and seven track & field district titles, as well as countless NAIA All-Americans and NAIA Scholar-Athletes. Ralph is retired from Western, where he was a professor in the PE Department, and from USA Track & Field, where he was the Sports Psychological subcommittee chair. He served as sport psychologist for the 2000 USA Track & Field Olympic team in Sydney. He was inducted into the WWU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.
THE HALSELL INVITATIONAL
Established last season, the Halsell Invitational pays respect to longtime WWU Track & Field and Cross Country head coach
Pee Wee Halsell, who spent 36 years leading the program and taking the Vikings to new heights. In all, Halsell received 44 Coach of the Year honors while directing the Vikings to 36 team championships. When combining cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field, Halsell received 26 GNAC Coach of the Year awards dating back to the start of the conference in 2001. He coached 10 individual national champions, 28 WWU Athletes of the Year, 18 WWU Scholar-Athletes of the Year, 163 All-Americans, 210 academic All-Americans, 237 conference champions, 385 West Region all-stars, 560 national participants, and 630 conference academic all-stars.
THE VIKING DYNASTY
The Vikings swept the team titles at the 2026 GNAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, marking the third consecutive season to win the men's and women's indoor titles. The Western track & field and cross country program has a current string of 18 consecutive team titles across men's and women's dating back to the 2023 outdoor championships.
| Season |
Sport |
GNAC Team Champion |
| 2023 |
Men's Outdoor Track & Field |
Western Washington |
| 2023 |
Women's Outdoor Track & Field |
Western Washington |
| 2023 |
Men's Cross Country |
Western Washington |
| 2023 |
Women's Cross Country |
Western Washington |
| 2024 |
Men's Indoor Track & Field |
Western Washington |
| 2024 |
Women's Indoor Track & Field |
Western Washington |
| 2024 |
Men's Outdoor Track & Field |
Western Washington |
| 2024 |
Women's Outdoor Track & Field |
Western Washington |
| 2024 |
Men's Cross Country |
Western Washington |
| 2024 |
Women's Cross Country |
Western Washington |
| 2025 |
Men's Indoor Track & Field |
Western Washington |
| 2025 |
Women's Indoor Track & Field |
Western Washington |
| 2025 |
Men's Outdoor Track & Field |
Western Washington |
| 2025 |
Women's Outdoor Track & Field |
Western Washington |
| 2025 |
Men's Cross Country |
Western Washington |
| 2025 |
Women's Cross Country |
Western Washington |
| 2026 |
Men's Indoor Track & Field |
Western Washington |
| 2026 |
Women's Indoor Track & Field |
Western Washington |
UP NEXT FOR THE VIKS
The Vikings will have a few competitors in the GNAC Multi Championships next Monday-Tuesday in Ellensburg and the GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held May 4-5 at the CWU Recreation Sports Complex in Ellensburg. Links to follow results from all competitions are listed on the 2026 schedule at
WWUVikings.com.
