PORTLAND, Ore. – Rewriting the Great Northwest Athletic Conference track and field record books in his debut collegiate season, Joshua Caleb of Alaska Anchorage was voted the 2023-24 GNAC Male Athlete of the Year announced by the conference office on Monday.
Caleb is the first male freshman to win the award, and just the second overall freshman to claim the honor since the conference was founded in 2001-02. The other was SPU women’s cross country/track & field standout Jessica Pixler during her freshman campaign in 2006-07. The GNAC Athlete of the Year award is voted on by the conference’s athletic directors and is presented annually to one male and one female. The female winner will be announced on Tuesday, June 25.
It became apparent from Caleb’s first collegiate race in February that he was destined for a historic season, as he came within 0.01 seconds of breaking a 10-year-old GNAC 60 meters record with a time of 6.73 seconds at the Whitworth Invitational. Just a week later, he achieved the feat by running a season-best 6.70 to break Alex Donigian’s GNAC record of 6.72 seconds (WWU, 2014). “From his very first race, it has been a series of amazements,” said UAA head coach Ryan McWilliams. “It has been a season where I have tried to keep it all in perspective and just appreciate the moment. Joshua being so down-to-earth, humble, and appreciative, plus the entire conference really rising to the occasion and running so fast this year, made it a little easier to just stay in the moment. As great as his season was it's not like the rest of his competition took it lying down. As impressive as he was, it was a necessity that we all stayed engaged. In hindsight though, man what a great year he had.”
Caleb’s 60 meters record, which came at the GNAC Indoor Championships, was backed up by another conference indoor record with a 200 meters time of 21.18 seconds at the same meet. Caleb claimed the gold medal in each event, and then ran a memorable anchor leg of the Seawolves’ 4x400 meter relay team that took second place with a time of 3:18.33. Caleb’s effort earned him the GNAC Performance of the Meet award. He capped his indoor campaign by earning USTFCCCA honorable mention All-America in the 200 meters, finishing in 11th place in the preliminary round at the NCAA D2 Indoor Championships on March 9. Caleb also notched a 15th-place finish in the 60 meters at the NCAA championship event.
“I am not so sure he is really motivated to break records,” McWilliams said. “I think he is certainly happy to break them and they provide good targets for him to aim for but his biggest motivation is to be the best he can be. If he was running 11.2 trying to run 11.0 rather than running 10.2 trying to run 10.0 like he is, I do not think his motivation and work ethic would be any different. He is young, talented and so driven that I am not sure what his ceiling is, but I don't think he has come close to hitting it.”
Caleb wasn’t finished with the GNAC record books during the indoor season, as he struck again this time in the 400 meters on April 27 at the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational. After posting an opening 400 meters time of 47.87 at the Mike Fanelli Classic on March 29, Caleb shattered the conference record by nearly a full second by running 46.73 a month later. That effort broke a 13-year-old record held by UAA’s Ethan Hewitt, who ran 47.51 in 2011.
Caleb also flirted with the GNAC outdoor records in both the 100 meters and 200 meters, turning heads once again at the GNAC Outdoor Championships on May 10 in Ellensburg, Wash. Caleb clocked a 200 meters time of 21.04 seconds, tying him for the second-fastest mark in GNAC history (Donigian, WWU, 20.93, 2016). His third gold medal of the year was bittersweet, as a leg injury as he crossed the finish line victorious in the 100 meters on May 11 prevented him from competing in the 200 meter finals. His 100 meters time of 10.28 seconds (+4.0) ranked second in GNAC outdoor history (Donigian, WWU, 10.22, 2015).
Caleb battled through the injury and was able to cap his year by competing in the 400 meters at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Caleb was just a hair off his GNAC record time, running 46.89 seconds in the preliminary round and earning another honorable mention All-America award with a 12th-place finish.
Quickly ascending from a new face on campus to the GNAC Freshman of the Year in both the indoor and outdoor seasons, Caleb’s 2023-24 body of work will be etched in conference history. “Joshua is very quick to disarm you and make a connection,” said McWilliams.” Anyone who has had a chance to meet him can feel that right away. I feel like the recruitment process was pretty easy, because of being able to get to know who he was as a person quickly and obviously that he was the type of athlete you want on your team. In context, his season shouldn't be that surprising. Joshua seems to excel at anything he sets his mind to. He made the adjustment from Nigeria to Alaska so quickly. He became a bought-in, devoted team member right away and has been a phenomenal student as well.”
Caleb joined former Seawolf track stars Micah Chelimo (2012-13) and David Registe (2007-08) as the third man in UAA history to claim GNAC Male Athlete of the Year. Overall he is the sixth UAA student-athlete to win the award, as former track All-American Caroline Kurgat was twice the GNAC Female Athlete of the Year (2017-18, 2018-19), and women’s basketball stars Megan Mullings (2015-16) and Hanna Johansson (2011-12) each claimed the honor as well.
“He is a lightning rod with his level of talent,” said McWilliams. “His presence has generated a lot of interest from new recruits and his ability to get teammates to stop looking up to him and rather aspire to look out from the top with him is big.”