BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Central Washington University track and field team delivered an impressive performance at the GNAC Outdoor Championships, collecting 12 gold medals, six silver, and six bronze. The men's team earned a third-place finish with 105 points, while the women's team claimed second with 204 points. Emy Ntekpere and E'lexis Hollis led the Wildcats, capturing three gold medals each.
 
MEET INFORMATION
Date: Friday, May 9^th & Saturday May 10^th
Meet: 2025 GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Location: Civic Stadium | Bellingham, Wash.
RESULTS
 
QUOTING HEAD COACH JONATHAN HILL
"We came to Bellingham to compete for titles as a team and we fought as hard as we could, ending up just short of our goal of winning a team title, but we made our presence felt.  Every person in our program is locked in on the goal and it showed this weekend that we should be taken seriously.  Our women won almost half the events contest (10 of 21), with runner up finishes in two more events, and four more bronze medals.  In all, our women collected 25 All-GNAC Medals.  Our men won two events and medaled in 6 more.  Our team was everywhere, represented in 20/21 events on both sides, and our energy was terrific.  I'm most proud of how we competed - we're relentless and respectful."
 
"This meet has historic implications – E'lexis Hollis and Johan Correa running their last races in our uniforms and doing so in historic fashion.  Emy becoming the first woman to win four events in a championship.  Lauryn becoming the first woman ever to win both the Pole Vault and Javelin in the same meet was incredible.  Meet record in the 4x100 and 200m for E'Lexis - she's a legend here and one of the best sprinters in D2 history but winning her first 100 and 200 titles as well as her first Track Athlete of the Year Award, was really special."
 
"We had four of the top five scoring athletes in the meet.  Emy Ntekpere (40), Josh Boast (24), E'Lexis Hollis (22.5), Carley Huber (22).  Wyatt Franklin was spectacular and competed like we'd hope a senior would - he was the runner-up for Field Athlete of the Year.  Wes was third in the voting with 14 points.  Lauryn was runner-up for field athlete of the year with her 20 points, with Payton Elenbaas third in that voting as well."
 
"We had some freshman really make their announcement.  Ashlyn Nielsen ran 11.82 prelims/11.91 finals for #2 in school history and 10^th GNAC All-Time as well as 24.23 prelims/24.48 medaling in both and moving up to #2 all-time in CWU history and 8th GNAC All-Time.  Payton Conover had one of the best freshmen 10k's every at CWU placing 2^nd in that race.  Boogy winning the 110H was awesome, he's been winning races, and I know this one meant a lot to him."
 
"Elise Hopper broke our school record and improved by 1.6 seconds to place 3^rd in an inspiring run to the line.  Elise ranks #30 in the NCAA in the 400 and leads off our 12th ranked nationally, conference record 4x1.  Elise is one of the best sprinters in CWU/GNAC history with her school record in the 400, 4x1 and 4x400, and 3rd rank on the school's 200m list (24.25) behind E'Lexis and Ashlyn.  Donna Maries helped make that 4x4 record happen.  She pushes the whole group, and she moved her way up the all-time list to #4in the open as well with her fourth place PR run of 56.11."
 
"Carley was iron woman this weekend.  She competed in the Heptathlon last week, the 100mh, LJ, HJ, 400h and 4x400.  She scored in five events and medaled in three. Her 400m hurdle race was one of the most amazing things I've witnessed.  Carley has come so far and has established herself as a leader in our program and one of the GNAC's best athletes."
 
"I'd like to give a shoutout to our multi-sport athletes - Boogy Brown, Leighton Menge and Capri Sims.  Allowing athletes to contribute to CWU Athletics in multiple ways, being multi-sport athletes is a really cool thing here and we welcome those that want to compete year-round.  We've got great coaches across our department who see the value in this and support their kids in every way."
 
 
ABOUT THE MEET

• Emy Ntekpere was named Women's Field Athlete of the Meet and Women's High Point Scorer after a stellar performance. She claimed gold in the high jump (1.73m), long jump (5.88m), and triple jump (12.54m).
• E'lexis Hollis earned Women's Track Athlete of the Meet honors, winning the 100m dash in a personal-best 11.33 seconds (ranked #5 in NCAA Division II) and the 200m dash in 23.61 seconds. She also anchored the 4x100m relay team (with Elise Hopper, Zoe Gonales, and Ashlyn Nielsen) to gold with a time of 45.16 seconds.
• Payton Elenbaas took gold in the hammer throw with a personal-best 55.44m and secured bronze in the discus with 42.64m.
• Carley Huber won gold in the women's 400-meter hurdles with a new personal record of 1:00.13, ranking 26^th in NCAA Division II.
• Lauryn McGough had an impressive performance, winning gold in the javelin throw and pole vault. She launched the javelin for 43.92 meters, ranking 26^th in NCAA Division II. She won the pole vault with 3.79 meters.
• Payton Conover set a new personal record in the 10,000m, winning silver with 36:54.96
• The women's 4x400m relay team (Nielsen, Huber, Donna Marie Harris, and Hopper) earned silver with a season-best 3:45.23. Hopper also claimed bronze in the 400m (54.35, PR), while Nielsen took bronze in both the 100m (11.91) and 200m (24.48).
• On the men's side, Johan Correa secured gold in the 800-meters with 1:49.68 minutes.
• Matthew Bender earned silver in the triple jump with 13.90 meters.
• David Brown won gold in the 110-meter hurdles with 14.32 seconds.
• Wyatt Franklin earned silver in the discus throw with 50.60 meters, ranking #52 in NCAA Division II.
• Wes Kriete earned silver in the shot put with 15.87 meters, a new season best. Kriete also earned a bronze medal in the discus throw with 48.07 meters.
• Josh Boast, named Co-Men's High Point Scorer with Joshua Caleb, earned silver in the 400m hurdles (52.41, PR, NCAA DII #32) and bronze in the triple jump (13.84m).

 
UP NEXT
The Crimson and Black will await and see who qualifies for the 2025 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships in Pueblo, Colorado on Thursday, May 22^nd through Saturday, May 24^th at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl.