Photography by: Loren Orr

SPOKANE, Wash. – A day filled with Great Northwest Athletic Conference records and gold medals, Monday marked the opening day of competition at the 2026 GNAC Indoor Track & Field Championships at The Podium.
 
After the opening day of competition, Western Washington leads the men’s team standings with 74.5 points, holding a commanding lead over second-place Northwest Nazarene (22 points). On the women’s side, Central Washington occupies the top spot with 54 points, with reigning champion Western Washington close behind at 49 points. The Vikings have won each of the last two women’s and men’s team indoor titles, and are currently in the midst of a streak of 16 consecutive team trophies across the sports of cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field dating back to the spring of 2023.
 
Northwest Nazarene senior Morgan Erler had one of the most inspirational performances of the day, racing her way to the women’s 5,000-meters gold medal. Hanging with reigning champion Maya Ewing of Seattle Pacific for the entire race, Erler put forth a late kick inside of 50 meters to go to cross the finish line in front. She ended with a personal-best time of 17:23.38 minutes, earning her first-ever GNAC gold medal. Erler was the runner-up in the event in 2025 and was a GNAC cross country all-conference performer taking sixth at the championship last fall. She became the first woman in NNU history to claim the gold medal at the GNAC Indoor Championships.
 
NNU’s Brody Kemble then followed with a victory in the men’s 5,000-meters, earning his first gold medal in that event after taking silver last year. The Nighthawk senior emerged in front in a photo finish, crossing the line in 14:45.14 minutes to narrowly edge George Fernandez of Western Washington who ran 14:45.20 minutes. WWU’s Sten Brakstad (14:45.61 minutes) and Jonah Billings (14:45.89 minutes) made it four runners all crossing the line within 0.75 seconds of one another. Kemble became just the second Nighthawk to win the indoor men’s 5,000-meters, joining 2012 GNAC champion Barak Watson.
 
 
Alaska Anchorage’s Vivien Liessfeld, who claimed the heptathlon gold medal at the 2024 GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, made it two multi-event titles as she won the pentathlon on Monday. The event came down to a thrilling finish in the 800 meters, with Central Washington’s Carley Huber winning the race in 2:21.36 minutes by a margin of 14 seconds to soar up the leaderboard. Liessfeld saved just enough energy for a late push down the home stretch however, edging Huber by 43 points in the final standings.
 
Liessfeld claimed the gold medal with a score of 3,467 points, with Huber taking silver at 3,424 points and Liessfeld’s teammate Sarah Dittman earning bronze with 3,291 points. Liessfeld’s win included a GNAC Championships pentathlon record for the long jump, as she hit 18-8.5 feet (5.70 meters). That cleared the record of 18-7.75 feet (5.68 meters) set by UAA’s Karolin Anders in 2016 and matched by Liessfeld at last year’s competition. She also won the 60-meter hurdles in 9.10 seconds and the shot put with a throw of 34-11.25 feet (10.65 meters) to solidify the pentathlon title.
 
It was the third-career podium finish in the pentathlon for Liessfeld, who earned bronze at each of the last two GNAC Championships. She also became the third woman in UAA history to win the event, joining Karolin Anders (2014-16) and Elena Cano (2020). Huber and Dittman each earned their first pentathlon medals.
 
Fresh off a PR last week in Seattle, WWU’s Calvin Gutierrez matched his effort with a weight throw of 63-6.75 feet (19.37 meters) to strike gold on Monday. That tied his own mark which stands No. 2 all-time in the GNAC and puts him at No. 26 on the national performance list. Gutierrez became the first man in WWU history to win the men’s weight throw at the GNAC Indoor Championships. Teammate Angelo Ramos also hit a PR on Monday, clearing 60-3.25 feet (18.37 meters) to earn the silver medal. It was his second-career podium performance, after taking bronze in 2024. Earning the bronze medal was Cort Sandefur of Montana State Billings, who posted a toss of 58-2.5 feet (17.74 meters). It was the third medal by a Yellowjacket in the event, as he joined bronze medalists Dylan Buehler (2014) and Nels Flanagan (2018).
 
 
Emy Ntekpere successfully defended her title in the women’s long jump, hitting 19-00.75 feet (5.81 meters) on her second attempt on Monday. That was good enough to hold off Liessfeld, the silver medalist by two inches as the pentathlon champion hit 18-10.75 feet (5.76 meters) in the long jump. UAA’s Mya Campbell also made the podium, leaping 18-5.0 feet (5.61 meters) to claim the bronze medal. Ntekpere became the fifth woman in league history to win the indoor long jump title in consecutive years. She is the lone CWU athlete to win the event and has three overall indoor long jump medals after taking silver as a freshman in 2024. Liessfeld earned her second medal in the event after taking bronze in 2024, while Campbell took home bronze for the second straight season.
 
Ntekpere made it two gold medals on the opening day of competition, as she also took home the high jump title to help the Wildcat women to the early team lead in points. An event she won as a freshman in 2024 and placed third in last year, Ntekpere took home her third GNAC medal in the high jump by clearing 5-7.25 feet (1.71 meters) on Monday. She became the third woman in GNAC history to win the indoor high jump twice, joining Ali Worthen of Seattle Pacific (2009 & 2011) and Tori Johnson of Concordia (2016 & 2018). Reigning champion Kora Cook of Western Washington earned her third straight podium in the event, placing second with a height of 5-6 feet (1.68 meters). Simon Fraser freshman Charlotte Bosma earned bronze with a jump of 5-3 feet (1.60 meters).
 
Western Washington junior Austin Seals stole the show in the men’s pole vault, crushing his personal best to claim the gold medal. Seals, whose previous best mark stood at 14-9 feet (4.5 meters), brought an uproar from his coaches and teammates as he cleared a bar at 16-0.75 feet (4.90 meters) to win the event and tie for the seventh-best height in GNAC indoor history. It was the 10th win by a Viking in the indoor men’s pole vault, and the first since J.T. Konrad in 2019. Ryan Doidge of Saint Martin’s earned silver for the second straight year at 15-9 feet (4.80 meters), and Seattle Pacific’s Mikel Saxon took bronze with a height of 14-9 feet (4.50 meters).
 
The women’s weight throw was also won in exciting fashion, as Central Washington junior Maliyah Gordon claimed the crown in her GNAC Championships debut. Gordon launched a huge PR on Monday, hitting 58-9.25 feet (17.91 meters). That stands as the fourth-best weight throw in GNAC history and the best by a Wildcat since the league was formed in 2001-02. She became the sixth woman in CWU history to win an indoor gold medal in the event, and the first since Meagan Smallbeck in 2022. Western Washington’s Kathryn Chapin took the silver medal with a throw of 58-6 feet (17.83 meters), and Hannah Cooper of Montana State Billings earned her second straight podium with a third-place throw of  54-5.5 feet (16.60 meters) after taking silver last year.
 
What has been a standout debut indoor season for Seattle Pacific freshman Tawaf Aboudou became even sweeter on Monday, when he struck gold in the men’s long jump. On his fifth attempt of the competition, Aboudou cleared 23-4.5 feet (7.12 meters), which was enough to claim the crown. He became the third Falcon and first since 2007 to win the event at the indoor championships, joining Justin Felt (2007) and three-time gold medalist Chris Randolph (2004-06). Gabe Menicke of Western Washington finished second with a jump of 22-10 feet (6.96 meters), and Nathan Roth of Simon Fraser placed third at 22-9 feet (6.93 meters).
 
In the first relays of the meet, the Simon Fraser women and the Western Washington men ran to the titles in the distance medley relay finals on Monday. The Red Leafs made it back-to-back DMR titles, defending last year’s crown with a time of 12:20.15 minutes. The winning quartet featured Veronica Dee, Veronica Robertson, Steph Millar and Raiya Mataonovich, as they held off runner-up Western Washington which ran 12:21.74 minutes. Western Oregon’s women finished third with a time of 12:22.11 minutes. Overall it was the 10th women’s DMR title for SFU – the most of any GNAC school.
 
On the men’s side, the Viking quartet of Evin Ford, Jonah Bloom, Eli Williams and Nate Rumberger combined to clock a winning time of 10:05.70 minutes. The Northwest Nazarene men put together a season-best time of 10:08.32 minutes to claim the silver medal, and Simon Fraser finished third with a time of 10:12.90 minutes. It was the Vikings’ first DMR title since they won three in-a-row from 2008-10, and it was the program’s fourth overall gold medal in the event.
 
After the opening four events of the men’s heptathlon, Alaska Anchorage’s Anders Larsen sits in first place with a score of 2,945 points. Drew Klein, who won the heptathlon in 2024 before an injury after day one sidelined him last year, is right behind at 2,875 points. Larsen ran the fastest 60-meter heptathlon time in GNAC indoor history on Monday, clocking in at 7.02 seconds to win that event. That bested the record of 7.03 seconds set by Central Washington’s Kodiak Landis at the 2018 GNAC Championships. Larsen also won the high jump at 6-2.25 feet (1.89 meters) to get out to the early lead. Klein meanwhile finished first in both the shot put at 40-5.5 feet (12.33 meters) and the long jump at 22-5.75 feet (6.85 meters). The final three events of the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meters will conclude the heptathlon competition first thing on Tuesday morning.
 
Simon Fraser sprinters Jaeland Cummings and Emma Cannan turned heads in the 60-meter prelims Monday, each clocking personal bests of 7.36 seconds. The performances tied for the third-best in GNAC indoor history and were 0.07 seconds off the conference record of 7.29 seconds set by Central Washington’s E’lexis Hollis at the 2024 GNAC Championships.
 
Cannan then broke the meet record in the 200-meters, cruising to a time of 23.26 seconds in the preliminaries. Central Washington’s Elise Hopper notched a PR of 24.05 seconds, keeping herself at No. 4 on the GNAC all-time top-10 list, while Cummings ran 24.10 seconds for the sixth-best time in conference history.
 
Western Washington’s Bec Bennett was the top performer in the women’s 400-meters, clocking a preliminary time of 54.35 seconds. She also hit a PR in the 200-meters at 24.38 seconds – the ninth-best time in conference indoor history.
 
 
Seattle Pacific’s Aboudou had the top performance in the men’s 60-meter preliminaries, running a personal-best time of 6.73 seconds. That mark stood as the No. 3 all-time GNAC performance in the event, while WOU’s Jack Burgett moved into a tie for No. 4 all-time on the GNAC list running 6.75 seconds.
 
Simon Fraser’s Zach Jeggo broke his own GNAC record in the 400-meters, running 47.07 seconds in the preliminaries on Monday. WWU’s Lucas Brenek also clocked a PR at 47.85 seconds to move up to No. 7 on the GNAC all-time list, and his teammate Maurice Woodring climbed to No. 10 on the all-time list at 47.99 seconds in the prelims.
 
NEXT UP: The championship meet concludes on Tuesday with the final day of competition. The men’s heptathlon resumes at 8:30 a.m. (Pacific) with field events following at 9:30 a.m. (Pacific) and running event finals beginning at 11 a.m. (Pacific). Live video is available online here and live results are available online here.