By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PUEBLO, Colo. – Becoming just the second woman in Great Northwest Athletic Conference track & field history to capture multiple NCAA national titles at the same championship event, Central Washington’s Emy Ntekpere capped a historic performance at the ThunderBowl over the weekend by winning both the high jump and triple jump gold medals.
 
Caroline Kurgat of Alaska Anchorage, who won both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters at both the 2018 and 2019 NCAA Championships, is the only other woman in league history to achieve the feat of double national champion. Ntekpere became the first woman in GNAC history to capture a national title in the triple jump, and the second to win the high jump as she joined 2007 winner Teona Perkins of Seattle Pacific.
 
Since the league was founded in 2001, she also became the first Wildcat woman to win an NCAA Division II national title. Ntekpere also claimed the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships title in the triple jump, becoming the fifth in conference history to win both an indoor and outdoor national title in the same year. The others were Jessica Pixler of SPU in 2007, 2009 and 2010, Ashley Puga of Northwest Nazarene in 2009, Lindsey Butterworth of Simon Fraser in 2015 and UAA’s Kurgat in 2019.
 
The sophomore phenom was the only competitor among a field of 22 to clear a high jump bar set at 6-0.5 feet (1.84 meters), as she shattered her own GNAC record of 5-10.5 feet (1.79 meters) in the finals on Friday. National runner-up Liezl Theron of Lee was the only other competitor to clear the previous bar, set at 5-10.5 feet (1.79 meters).
 
Although Ntekpere entered Saturday’s triple jump finals as the favorite with the top qualifying mark, the national title hung in the balance until her sixth and final attempt. Ntekpere got off to a good start, hitting 43-5.25 feet (13.24 meters) on her first leap and solidifying her spot atop the leaderboard on her third attempt at 43-6 feet (13.26 meters) to tie her GNAC-record personal best. But Mount Olive freshman Janara Bryant unleashed a monster jump of 43-6.5 feet (13.27 meters) to nudge ahead of Ntekpere and set up a must-have, dramatic final attempt. The Wildcat saved her best-ever performance for last, clearing 43-8.75 feet (13.33 meters – wind +4.2) to secure the gold medal. It was the fourth All-American performance by a GNAC athlete in the event, after UAA’s Kim Brady took seventh in 2008, WWU’s Emily Warman was sixth in 2012 and UAA’s Chrisalyn Johnson finished seventh in 2019.
 
Wildcat sprint star E’lexis Hollis made history in the 100 meter finals on Saturday, becoming the first woman in conference history to earn a national runner-up finish. The senior ran a personal-best 11.25 seconds in the finals, finishing only behind national champion Alexis Brown of Lenoir-Rhyne who broke the Division II record in 10.93 seconds. Hollis joined Simon Fraser’s Marie-Eloise Leclair (5th in 2023, 7th in 2024) and Alaska Anchorage’s Jamie Ashcroft (6th in 2015) as the third woman in conference history to garner All-America honors in the event. Her time was just off Leclair’s GNAC record of 11.19 seconds, set in 2024.
 
Hollis also finished sixth in the women’s 200 meter finals, running a time of 23.27 seconds on Saturday. Simon Fraser’s Emma Cannan was right behind her, taking seventh with a mark of 23.33 seconds. In the preliminary round of the event on Thursday, Cannan tied teammate Leclair’s GNAC record with a mark of 23.17 seconds. The duo also joined Leclair as the only other woman in conference history to earn All-America status in the event. Lenoir-Rhyne’s Brown also won the national title in the 200 meters, with a time of 22.37 seconds.
 
The men’s javelin competition saw a trio of GNAC competitors take the stage, including a headline performance by Northwest Nazarene’s Laurenz Waldbauer. The Nighthawk junior posted a season-best heave of 236-5 feet (72.06 meters) on his second attempt and finished as the national runner-up. It took a meet-winning throw of 249-2 feet (75.94 meters) by Caleb Calvin of Pittsburg State on his final attempt to top Waldbauer’s early effort. It was the top javelin performance by a GNAC athlete since Alaska Anchorage’s Cody Parker placed second at the 2016 championships, and Waldbauer matched Josh Heidegger (2009) for the best-ever national finish in the event in school history. Overall it was the 21st All-American performance the conference has had in men’s javelin.
 
Simon Fraser’s Jarrett Chong narrowly missed the podium in the men’s javelin, placing ninth among the field of 22 throwers. Fresh off the second-farthest javelin throw in GNAC history (238-2 feet/72.60 meters), which earned him the gold medal at the conference championships earlier this month, Chong checked in with a throw of 218-1 feet (66.49 meters) on Saturday. It was Chong’s third NCAA Championships appearance, after he placed seventh in 2022 and 15th a season ago. Jakob Braunstein of Western Washington was also among the field of throwers, finishing in 19th place with a mark of 198-2 feet (60.41 meters) in his NCAA Championships debut.
 
After running the top preliminary time in the 800 meters on Friday, Central Washington’s Johan Correa repeated as an All-American with a sixth-place finish in Saturday’s finals. The Wildcat standout ran a time of 1:50.11 minutes, delivering the league’s sixth All-America effort in the event and becoming the first-ever GNAC competitor to be a two-time All-American in the men’s 800 meters. Correa finished fourth in the event at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships and fourth at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Josue Le Cadre of Indianapolis won the NCAA title with a time of 1:48.16 minutes, just holding off national runner-up Antonio Blair of Angelo State who ran 1:49.06 minutes.
 
After each qualifying for the finals in the women’s steeplechase, Maya Ewing of Seattle Pacific and Ila Davis of Western Washington each narrowly missed the podium in Friday’s finals. Ewing crossed the finish line in ninth place with a time of 10:48.53 minutes, while Davis finished right behind in 10th place in 10:58.85 minutes. Ava O’Connor of Adams State was the national champion in 10:11.14 minutes, winning the title by nearly 10 full seconds.
 
Also representing the league in the distance realm was Seattle Pacific senior Annika Esvelt, who finished in ninth place in the 5,000 meter finals on Saturday. Esvelt crossed the finish line with a time of 17:01.85 minutes to complete her final collegiate race with the Falcons. She earned All-American honors on Thursday night, finishing seventh in the women’s 10,000 meter finals. Saturday’s 5,000 finals were won by Tristian Spence of Adams State, who clocked a time of 16:16.11 minutes.
 
Representing the conference in the men’s 400-meter hurdles was league record holder Maurice Woodring of Western Washington. The sophomore took ninth place in Saturday’s finals, completing the dash with a time of 51.63 seconds. Woodring’s time of 50.95 seconds in Thursday’s preliminary round broke his own conference record that he established earlier this spring. Sean Dixon of Oklahoma Baptist won the national title with a time of 49.54 seconds, to edge runner-up Jaevon Riley of Claflin by 0.33 seconds.
 
GNAC women’s shot put gold medalist Destany Herbert of Northwest Nazarene made waves in her first national championship appearance, just missing the podium with a ninth-place finish at 48-10 feet (14.88 meters). Western Washington freshman Jessica Polkinghorn was right behind in 10th place, with a throw of 48-4.5 feet (14.74 meters) in Saturday’s final round. That duo re-wrote the conference record books this year, with Polkinghorn posting the second-longest throw in conference history at 50-8.25 feet (15.45 meters) and Herbert notching the fifth-best toss at 50-0.5 feet (15.25 feet). Katherine Higgins of host Colorado State Pueblo was the national champion on Saturday, finishing with a personal-best mark of 53-9 feet (16.38 meters).
 
Competing in the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the second year in-a-row, Central Washington sophomore Lauryn McGough represented the conference in the women’s pole vault competition. The GNAC record holder – both indoor and outdoor – in the event, McGough finished in a tie for 10th place among the 22 competitors as she cleared 12-10.25 feet (3.92 meters) in the finals on Saturday. It was the third-straight top-20 national performance for McGough, who placed 16th at this year’s indoor national championships and 11th at last year’s outdoor event. Roberts Wesleyan’s Brynn King won the national title, clearing 14-10 feet (4.52 meters) on her second attempt.
 
Competing in her first NCAA Championships, sixth-year senior Katie Potts of Western Washington finished 19th in the women’s discus competition. On her final attempt, Potts unleashed a hurl of 148-4 feet (45.21 meters) to cap her standout career in a Viking uniform. Erika Beistle of Grand Valley State won the national title with a meet-record throw of 213-5 feet (65.05 meters).
 
Kevin McDermott of Western Washington capped his 2025 season by competing in the men’s 5,000 meters on Saturday. The Viking senior finished in 21st place, clocking in with a time of 15:28.67 minutes. McDermott’s season-best time of 13:48.17 minutes run earlier this year was the second-fastest in conference history. West Texas A&M’s William Amponsah emerged as the national champion on Saturday, running a time of 14:26.23 minutes.
 
Alaska Anchorage standout Joshua Caleb finished his sophomore campaign in the preliminary round of the 200 meters on Friday, posting a time of 20.94 seconds and finishing in 14th place among the field of 22 competitors. Caleb also qualified in the 100 meters, where he ran a preliminary time of 10.33 seconds an finished 19th on Thursday. Isaac Botsio of West Texas A&M won the national title in the 100 meters in 9.94 seconds, while Dapriest Hogans of Pittsburg State was the 200 meters national champion in 20.39 seconds.
   
Gerohm Rihari of Northwest Nazarene got a taste of his first NCAA Championships competition, as he was the conference’s lone qualifier in the men’s high jump. The Nighthawks senior knocked the bar off on his first three attempts, finishing the event with a no height. He earned his spot in the national meet by recording the fifth-best outdoor high jump in conference history this spring, clearing 6-10.75 feet (2.10 meters). National champion Jaivon Harrison of Grand Valley State made a clearance of 7-1.75 feet (2.18 meters) on his first attempt on Saturday.
 
Central Washington’s women’s 4x100 meter relay team also qualified for Saturday’s finals, after the quartet of Hollis, Elise Hopper, Zoe Gonzales and Ashlyn Nielsen ran the eighth-best preliminary time on Thursday. The unit was disqualified in Saturday’s finals however, and did not record a final time. Fresno Pacific won the national title with a Division II record of 43.85 seconds, enough to hold off runner-up Cal State San Bernardino by 0.09 seconds.