By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – The top performers from the 2025 outdoor track and field season were recognized on Friday, as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced its special award winners.
 
2025 GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Special Award Winners
Men's Track Athlete of the Year: Joshua Caleb, Alaska Anchorage
Men's Field Athlete of the Year: Laurenz Waldbauer, Northwest Nazarene
Men's Freshman of the Year: Eli Williams, Western Washington
Men's Coach of the Year: Ben Stensland, Western Washington
 
Women's Track Athlete of the Year: E'lexis Hollis, Central Washington
Women's Field Athlete of the Year: Emy Ntekpere, Central Washington
Women's Freshman of the Year: Jessica Polkinghorn, Western Washington
Women's Coach of the Year: Ben Stensland, Western Washington
 
Headlining the list of women’s award winners was Central Washington’s Emy Ntekpere, who was a two-time outdoor national champion. The sophomore jumps specialist claimed the NCAA Division II titles in both the triple jump and high jump to unanimously win the GNAC Field Athlete of the Year award. She is just the second woman in school history to claim a GNAC outdoor athlete of the year honor, joining 2006 recipient Katie McMeel. Ntekpere made history at the GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, becoming the first woman in league history to win four individual gold medals at a single championship event. Ntekpere swept all three jumps – a feat that had never been done in conference history – in winning the high jump, long jump and triple jump. She also claimed the GNAC outdoor title in the heptathlon. Ntekpere broke the GNAC record in the high jump at 5-11.5 feet (1.82 meters) and in the triple jump at 43-6 feet (13.26 meters), while tying for the 10th-best long jump in league history at 19-4.75 feet (5.91 meters).
 
CWU teammate E’lexis Hollis was voted by the coaches as the GNAC Track Athlete of the Year after a stellar outdoor campaign. Hollis finished as the NCAA Division II runner-up in the 100 meters, running a personal-best time of 11.25 seconds which stands as second-fastest in conference history. Hollis also helped the CWU 4x100 meter relay team reach the national finals after breaking its own GNAC record in the NCAA preliminary round with a time of 44.76 seconds. Hollis was a triple gold medalist at the GNAC Championships, claiming the 100 meters and 200 meters crowns and contributing to the Wildcats’ win in the 4x100 meters. Her PR 200 meters time of 23.20 seconds this season stands as third-best in conference history.
 
GNAC Freshman of the Year honors went to Western Washington star thrower Jessica Polkinghorn. In her debut collegiate campaign, Polkinghorn’s spring was highlighted by the second-best shot put in league history at 50-8.25 feet (15.45 meters). She also hit season bests of 133-10 feet (40.79 meters) in the javelin and 134-1 feet (40.88 meters) in the discus. She earned the Vikings 18 points at the conference championships, finishing fourth in the shot put, fifth in the discus and sixth in the javelin. Polkinghorn capped her freshman campaign by representing her team at the NCAA Championships, where she finished 10th in the shot put to claim second-team All-America. She is the fifth woman in WWU history to claim the GNAC’s top freshman honor, joining Ashley Reeck (2023), Eleanor Siler (2009), Clara Cook (2006) and Ashlee Vincent (2002).
 
It was another record-breaking season for Alaska Anchorage’s Joshua Caleb, who was tabbed the GNAC Track Athlete of the Year on the men’s side. The sophomore bested his own marks in the sprints, setting GNAC records in the 100 meters (10.11 seconds) and 200 meters (20.50 seconds). He also contributed to the Seawolves’ conference-record time of 40.38 seconds in the 4x100 meter relay. Mirroring Hollis’s feat, Caleb was bogged down by hardware after the GNAC Championships with gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters and as part of UAA’s 4x100 meter relay squad. He went on to record a 14th-place finish in the 200 meters and 19th-place finish in the 100 meters at the NCAA Championships. Caleb became the sixth man in school history to claim the conference’s top athlete honor, after Joshua Wagner (2022), Cody Thomas (2014 & 2016), Cody Parker (2013), Micah Chelimo (2012) and David Registe (2008 & 2009).
 
A national runner-up finish in the men’s javelin sealed the GNAC Field Athlete of the Year honor for Northwest Nazarene’s Laurenz Waldbauer, who saved his best throw for last in the 2025 campaign. Making his third-career appearance at the NCAA Championships, Waldbauer earned his first podium spot with a toss of 236-5 feet (72.06 meters) to take the silver medal (he placed 13th in both 2024 and 2022). He was also the GNAC silver medalist in the event, posting a throw of 229-6 feet (69.96 meters) at the conference championships. His throw at the NCAA meet was just off his personal best of 237-6 feet (72.38 meters), which he recorded in 2022 and which still stands as the third-farthest javelin throw in conference history. Waldbauer also received the prestigious NCAA ELITE 90 award at the national championships, which is designated for the student-athlete at the championship event who holds the highest grade point average. Majoring in global business, Waldbauer has maintained a spotless 4.0 GPA throughout his collegiate career. He is the fourth man in NNU history to claim the league’s top athlete honor, joining Steven Schmidt (2023), Jake Knight (2019) and Payton Lewis (2017).
 
Eli Williams of Western Washington turned heads at the GNAC Championships, storming his way to victory in the steeplechase on his way to GNAC Freshman of the Year recognition. The first-year Viking won the gold medal with a season-best time of 8:59.46 minutes, earning his team 10 valuable points in a season where WWU broke the meet record for team score with 302 points. Williams also raced his way to a bronze medal in the 1,500 meters, with a time of 3:50.79 minutes. Williams’s top 1,500 meters time of the year was 3:50.56 minutes, and he also contributed to the Vikings’ 4x400 meter relay team throughout the spring. He is the fifth in school history to earn GNAC Freshman of the Year honors, joining Maurice Woodring (2023), Jeret Gillingham (2021), Alex Barry (2016) and Kyle McGillen (2005).
 
After navigating the Vikings to a sweep of the women’s and men’s team titles at the GNAC Championships, Ben Stensland was voted by his peers as both the women’s and men’s GNAC Coach of the Year. Dating back to the 2023 GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, WWU is in the midst of a historic streak of crowns spanning across the sports of cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. In total, the Vikings have won the last 14 GNAC team trophies across the three sports. At this year’s outdoor meet, WWU’s men became the first team in GNAC history to surpass 300 points at the conference meet, 186 points higher than runner-up Western Oregon (116). The WWU women posted a team score of 229 points, enough to hold off second-place Central Washington (204). Overall it was the fifth straight men’s team title, marking the longest streak since the league was formed in 2001-02. WWU’s men have won 12 total crowns while the women have won three total, which have come in the last three seasons. Stensland is the third coach in league history to win three consecutive GNAC Coach of the Year honors and the first to do it on both the women’s and men’s sides. WWU’s Pee Wee Halsell earned four straight men’s coaching honors from 2012-15 and Seattle Pacific’s Karl Lerum was the women’s coach of the year from 2010-12.