By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

Photography by: Loren Orr.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Great Northwest Athletic Conference will be well-represented at the 2026 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships, which run Friday and Saturday at Virginia Beach Sports Center.
 
The conference will be represented by 25 total women’s and men’s competitors from six different universities.
 
Women’s Championship Live Stream: https://www.ncaa.com/event/4730
Men’s Championship Live Stream: https://www.ncaa.com/event/4731
Live Results: https://results.leonetiming.com/?mid=8658
 

Friday, March 13

All times listed are Pacific Standard.

 

Men’s Heptathlon
Friday – 60m (7 a.m.) | Long Jump (7:45 a.m.) | Shot Put (8:45 a.m.) | High Jump (10:15 a.m.)
Saturday – 60m Hurdles (8 a.m.) | Pole Vault (8:45 a.m.) | 1,000 Meters (Noon)
GNAC National Champions: 0 | GNAC All-Americans: 6 | Most Recent: Steven Schmidt, NNU, 2023 (3rd)
Drew Klein – Central Washington
Seed: 13 – 5,149 | PR: 5,198 (7th GNAC indoor all-time)
Anders Larsen – Alaska Anchorage
Seed: 16 – 5,132 | PR: 5,132 (9th GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Joel Brown, Walsh, 5,479
 
For the fourth time in conference history, the GNAC will be represented by a pair of competitors in the men’s heptathlon. CWU’s Klein, the two-time GNAC Indoor Championships heptathlon title winner, will be making his second national meet appearance after placing 14th in 2024. UAA’s Larsen, who was the silver medalist in the heptathlon at the 2026 GNAC Indoor Championships, will be making his first-ever NCAA appearance. Larsen hit personal bests in six of the seven events at last month’s conference meet, making his way onto the GNAC indoor all-time top-10 list with the ninth-best score in history (5,132 points). Klein has twice hit his personal-best score of 5,198 points, establishing the mark in Jan., 2024 and matching it a year later in Jan., 2025. Five of the conference’s six All-America honors in the event have come from the two participating schools, with UAA’s Cody Thomas finishing second in 2015 and third in 2016, CWU’s Kodiak Landis taking third in both 2017 and 2018 and the Wildcats’ Braydon Maier placing seventh in 2019.
 

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Noon – Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles (Prelims) | Finals – 12:55 p.m. Saturday
GNAC National Champions: 0 | GNAC All-Americans: 2 Most Recent: Paige Johnson, CU & Erykah Weems CWU, 2020 (N.P. – COVID)
Hannah Chang – Seattle Pacific
Seed: 14 – 8.52 | PR: 8.52 (2nd GNAC indoor all-time)
Liv Heite – Alaska Anchorage
Seed: 17 – 8.53 | PR: 8.53 (T3rd GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Patreece Clarke, New Mexico Highlands, 8.22
 
It was a stellar women’s 60-meter hurdles showing at the GNAC Indoor Championships for the second year in-a-row, as SPU’s Chang and UAA’s Heite each ran personal bests to secure their spots at the national meet. It will be the first-ever indoor nationals appearance for each of them, as they strive to become their respective schools’ first-ever All-Americans. Chang competed at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships, placing 16th in the 100-meter hurdles. The GNAC has never had a placing All-American in the event, with the two 2020 All-Americans earning that tile by virtue of a top-eight seed before the national meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
   

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12:15 p.m. – Men’s 60 Meters (Prelims) | Finals – 1:10 p.m. Saturday
Colton Magruder – Central Washington
GNAC National Champions: 0 | GNAC All-Americans: 3 Most Recent: Josua Caleb, UAA, 2025 (4th)
Seed: 4 – 6.62 | PR: 6.62 (2nd GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Griouard Weddington, Pittsburg State, 6.54
 
A two-sport athlete who competes on the CWU football team, Magruder turned heads by winning the GNAC 60-meters gold medal last month with the second-fastest time in conference history. His mark of 6.62 seconds stands as the fourth-fastest in Division II this winter. If he can replicate that time, he could be the fourth in conference history and first Wildcat to claim All-American honors in the event. The GNAC’s best-ever men’s 60-meter hurdles finish was a silver medal by Western Washington’s Alex Donigian in 2015.
   

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12:30 p.m. – Women’s 60 Meters (Prelims) | Finals – 1:20 p.m. Saturday
GNAC National Champions: 0 | GNAC All-Americans: 6 Most Recent: E’lexis Hollis CWU (3rd) & Marie-Eloise Leclair, SFU (4th), 2025
Emma Cannan – Simon Fraser
Seed: 4 – 7.33 | PR: 7.33 (3rd GNAC indoor all-time)
Jaeland Cummings – Simon Fraser
Seed: 5 – 7.34 | PR: 7.34 (4th GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Grizell Scarlett, Central Missouri, 7.25
 
Cannan and Cummings crossed the finish line 0.01 seconds apart to sweep the top-two medals at the GNAC Indoor Championships in the 60-meter dash last week. Cannan’s PR time of 7.33 seconds and Cummings’ of 7.34 seconds were third- and fourth-fastest in conference indoor history, and they stand as fourth- and fifth-fastest in Division II this season. Three different athletes have captured the league’s six All-American honors in the event, including three by SFU’s Marie-Eloise Leclair (2023-25) and two by Central Washington’s E’lexis Hollis (2024-25). It will be Cannan’s third NCAA Championship appearance and second indoor meet, and she’ll compete in the 60-meters for the first time in her career. Cummings will be making her first-ever NCAA meet appearance.
   

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1:05 p.m. – Women’s Mile (Prelims) | Finals – 1:50 p.m. Saturday
Raiya Matonovich – Simon Fraser
GNAC National Champions: 4 | GNAC All-Americans: 13 Most Recent: Nancy Jeptoo, UAA, 2020 (N.P. – COVID)
Seed: 4 – 4:42.62 | PR: 4:42.62 (3rd GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Helen Braybrook CSU-Pueblo, 4:30.03
 
Matonovich ran the third-fastest mile in GNAC history on Jan. 17 at the UW Preview in Seattle, cruising to a time of 4:42.62 minutes to stake her claim to an NCAA Championships berth. The Red Leaf freshman earned GNAC Women’s Track Athlete of the Meet honors at the indoor championships, winning the mile, 800 meters and distance medley relay, and helping SFU to a silver medal in the 4x400-meter relay. Although the GNAC has enjoyed a tradition of success nationally in the women’s mile, with 13 All-American performances, it has not had a top-8 finisher since 2018. The fourth-seeded Matonovich will look to become the second Red Leaf in GNAC history to garner All-America in the mile, after Paige Nock finished in eighth place at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Seattle Pacific’s Jessica Pixler owns all four of the conference’s national titles in the event, sweeping the gold medals from 2007-10.
   

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1:20 p.m. – Men’s 400 Meters (Prelims) | Finals – 2 p.m. Saturday
Zachary Jeggo – Simon Fraser
GNAC National Champions: 0 | GNAC All-Americans: 1 Most Recent: Vladislav Tsygankov, SFU, 2017 (7th)
Seed: 13 – 46.72 | Indoor PR: 46.72 (1st GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Joshua Page, Grand Valley State, 45.77
 
Freshman phenom Zachary Jeggo became the first man in GNAC indoor history to eclipse 47 seconds in the 400 meters, running a record-breaking time of 46.72 seconds to claim the gold medal at the GNAC Indoor Championships. The winning race earned Jeggo the GNAC Men’s Performance of the Meet award. The conference’s only All-American in the men’s 400 meters was Simon Fraser’s Vladislav Tsygankov, who placed seventh at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships.
   

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1:35 p.m. – Women’s High Jump
GNAC National Champions: 1 | GNAC All-Americans: 10 Most Recent: Emy Ntekpere, CWU, 2025 (6th)
Emy Ntekpere – Central Washington
Seed: 3 – 1.79m (5-10.5) | Indoor PR: 1.79m (5-10.5) (1st GNAC indoor all-time)
Kora Cook – Western Washington
Seed: 16 – 1.74m (5-85) | Indoor PR: 1.76m (5-9.25) (T4th GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Jamora Horace, Oklahoma Baptist, 1.81m (5-11.25)
 
This duo will represent the GNAC at the national meet for the second year in-a-row, after earning the gold and silver medals at the conference indoor meet. Ntekpere earned All-America in the high jump last year, placing sixth and clearing a bar of 5-10 feet (1.78 meters). Ntekpere’s overall PR of 5-11.5 feet (1.82 meters), which she won last year’s outdoor high jump national title with, was 0.25 inches above the 2026 indoor national leader Jamora Horace of Oklahoma Baptist. Cook will be making her second-career NCAA national meet appearance, after placing 14th in the high jump last year at 5-5.75 feet (1.67 meters). Nine different women in GNAC history, including Ntekpere, have claimed indoor All-American status in the women’s high jump. The other Wildcat to do so was Tayler Fetting who placed sixth in 2014, while Cook will look to join WWU’s Aliyah Dawkins who was ranked in the top-8 in the COVID-impacted 2020 season. The conference’s lone indoor national champion in the event was SPU’s Danielle Ayers-Stamper in 2005.
   

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1:45 p.m. – Women’s 400 Meters (Prelims) | Finals – 2:10 p.m. Saturday
Bec Bennett – Western Washington
GNAC National Champions: 0 | GNAC All-Americans: 3 Most Recent: Bec Bennett, WWU, 2025 (7th)
Seed: 2 – 53.58 | Indoor PR: 53.47 (2nd GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Blessing Akintoye, West Texas A&M, 52.39
 
WWU’s Bennett has looked stronger than ever this indoor season, winning gold in both the 400 meters and the 4x400-meter relay at the GNAC Indoor Championships. She hit her personal-best indoor time of 53.47 seconds in the event and holds the No. 2 national seed time entering the championship meet. In her first season with the Vikings in 2025, Bennett took home All-America honors by finishing seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championships in both the 400 meters and as part of WWU’s distance medley relay squad. Bennett will look to become the first woman in conference history to earn multiple indoor All-America honors in the event. The GNAC has yet to claim an indoor NCAA gold medal in the women’s 400 meters.
   

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2:05 p.m. – Men’s 800 Meters (Prelims) | Finals – 2:25 p.m. Saturday
Colton Plummer – Simon Fraser
GNAC National Champions: 0 | GNAC All-Americans: 11 Most Recent: Johan Correa, CWU, 2025 (4th)
Seed: 12 – 1:49.38 | Indoor PR: | 1:49.38 (3rd GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Josue Le Cadre, Indianapolis, 1:46.97
 
Set to make his NCAA Championships debut, SFU’s Plummer is coming off a win in the men’s 800 meters at the GNAC Indoor Championships. He ran the third-fastest 800 meters time in GNAC indoor history on Jan. 17 at the UW Preview, clocking in at 1:49.38 minutes to punch his ticket to the NCAA meet. Plummer will look to become the second man in SFU history to put together an All-America finish, after Cameron Proceviat took sixth place in 2016. The best-ever NCAA finish by a GNAC runner in the event was third place by Andy Prentice of Saint Martin’s in 2006.
   

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2:25 p.m. – Women’s 800 Meters (Prelims) | Finals – 2:35 p.m. Saturday
Emmy Kroontje – Western Washington
GNAC National Champions: 6 | GNAC All-Americans: 25 Most Recent: Vanessa Aniteye, SPU, 2023 (1st)
Seed: 12 – 2:08.70 | Indoor PR: 2:08.70
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Lieke Hoogsteen, Adams State, 2:04.49
 
This weekend will mark Kroontje’s third NCAA Indoor Championships appearance, but her first as an individual after she represented the Vikings’ distance medley relay team each of the last two years. Kroontje ran a personal-best time of 2:08.70 minutes at the UW Husky Classic on Feb. 13, earning her spot as the No. 12 seed for this weekend’s national race. The women’s 800 meters has been the GNAC’s most successful indoor race, with six national gold medals and 25 All-Americans historically. Kroontje will look to become the third Viking to join that list, after Rachael Johnson took seventh in 2009 and Marian Ledesma placed eighth in 2024. Including Kroontje’s appearance at last fall’s NCAA Cross Country Championships, it will be her fourth collegiate national meet appearance.
   

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3:00 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters (Prelims) | Finals – 2:55 p.m. Saturday
GNAC National Champions: 0 | GNAC All-Americans: 5 Most Recent: Marie-Eloise Leclair, SFU (3rd) & Emma Cannan, SFU (4th), 2025
Emma Cannan – Simon Fraser
Seed: 1 – 23.21 | Indoor PR: 23.19 (1st GNAC indoor all-time)
Jaeland Cummings – Simon Fraser
Seed: 11 – 23.91 | Indoor PR: 23.91 (3rd GNAC indoor all-time)
Elise Hopper – Central Washington
Seed: 15 – 24.00 | Indoor PR: 24.00 (5th GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Emma Cannan, Simon Fraser, 23.21
 
Perhaps the GNAC’s most realistic chance for a national champion this season, SFU’s Cannan enters the meet as the top overall seed in the women’s 200 meters. She crushed the GNAC indoor record with a time of 23.19 seconds (23.21 altitude) at the Nevada Wolf Pack Classic on Feb. 6, before racing to the gold medal at the GNAC Indoor Championships. Cummings meanwhile took the GNAC silver medal with a PR of 23.91 seconds and CWU’s Elise Hopper ran a PR time of 24.00 seconds to take home the bronze. It will mark Hopper’s first-ever NCAA Indoor Championships appearance and her second-career national meet, after she ran as part of the Wildcats’ 4x100-meter relay unit at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Cannan will look for her second-straight All-America honor in the event, after she placed fourth in the 200 meters at last year’s NCAA meet. The league’s only other All-Americans were Marie-Eloise Leclair (2023-25) and Alaska Anchorage’s Jamie Ashcroft, who took seventh in 2017. Leclair’s runner-up finish in 2024 stands as the best-ever by a GNAC runner in the event.
   

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4:25 p.m. – Women’s Distance Medley Relay
Simon Fraser – Veronica Dee; Emma Cannan; Steph Millar; Raiya Matonovich
GNAC National Champions: 1 | GNAC All-Americans: 21 Most Recent: Western Washington, 2025 (7th)
Seed: 6 – 11:30.79 (8th GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Adams State, 11:11.24
 
The Red Leafs ran the eighth-fastest DMR time in GNAC history this winter, with their mark of 11:30.79 minutes earning them the No. 6 seed at the NCAA Championships. The event has been a strong suit for both the conference and SFU, with seven of the league’s 21 All-American DMR squads hailing from Burnaby, B.C. SFU’s best-ever NCAA finish in the event was a silver medal in 2015. The Red Leafs will look to become just the second-ever GNAC national champion, with Seattle Pacific claiming the 2010 NCAA gold medal. It will be the first-ever NCAA Championship appearance in the DMR for each of the Red Leafs’ four competitors, who teamed up to take home the GNAC gold medal at last month’s conference championship.
 

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Saturday, March 14

12:30 p.m. – Women’s Triple Jump
GNAC National Champions: 2 | GNAC All-Americans: 5 Most Recent: Emy Ntekpere, CWU, 2025 (1st)
Emy Ntekpere – Central Washington
Seed: 3 – 12.81m (42-0.5) | Indoor PR: 13.00m (42-8) (1st GNAC indoor all-time)
Olivia Windbiel – Simon Fraser
Seed: 18 – 12.21m (40-0.75) | Indoor PR: 12.21m (40-0.75) (5th GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Ghada Hamdani, Minnesota State, 12.93m (42-5.25)
 
Ntekpere is the reigning NCAA Division II national champion in the triple jump – both indoors and outdoors. Her season-best triple jump of 42-0.5 feet (12.81 meters) led her to her third straight GNAC Indoor Championships gold medal as she enters the national meet with the third-best mark in Division II this season. Ntekpere’s winning jump at last year’s national indoor meet of 42-8 feet (13.00 meters) stands as the GNAC indoor record and is 2.75 inches further than this year’s national-leading mark of 42-5.25 feet (12.93 meters) held by Minnesota State’s Ghada Hamdani. SPU’s Pixler, who won four straight national mile titles, is the only woman in GNAC indoor history with multiple NCAA gold medals in the same event. Ntekpere became the first-ever Wildcat to garner All-America in the women’s triple jump with last year’s national title. Windbiel earned the 18th and final spot among the national field with a PR jump of 40-0.75 feet (12.21 meters) on her way to a silver medal at the GNAC Indoor Championships. The Red Leafs have never had a women’s triple jump All-American.
   

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2:15 p.m. – Women’s Shot Put
Jessica Polkinghorn – Western Washington
GNAC National Champions: 1 | GNAC All-Americans: 4 Most Recent: Samantha La Rue, CWU, 2020 (N.P. – COVID)
Seed: 11 – 15.19m (49-10) | Indoor PR: 15.19 (49-10) (4th GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Erika Beistle, Grand Valley State, 18.26m
 
WWU sophomore Jessica Polkinghorn picked up her first NCAA Indoor Championships national berth and her second overall. She just missed All-America status with a 10th-place finish at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the shot put. Her top mark of 49-10 feet (15.19 meters) this winter was fourth-best in GNAC indoor history. A top-eight finish this weekend would make her the first-ever Viking in conference history to earn indoor All-America in the event. Central Washington’s Krissy Tandle owns the league’s only shot put national title, winning the gold medal in 2009.
   

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3:45 p.m. – Men’s 4x400 Meter Relay
Simon Fraser – Tyson Carr; Colton Plummer; Liam Barnes; Zachary Jeggo
GNAC National Champions: 0 | GNAC All-Americans: 1 Most Recent: UAA, 2017 (8th)
Seed: 12 – 3:11.70 (2nd GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: Pittsburg State, 3:07.53
 
Simon Fraser’s men’s 4x400-meter relay team clocked the second-fastest indoor time in conference history, running 3:11.70 minutes to earn its place at the national meet. The Red Leafs used the blazing time to win the gold medal at the GNAC Indoor Championships, with Jeggo running a memorable anchor leg to secure the title. The only men’s 4x400-meter relay team in GNAC indoor history to earn All-America status was Alaska Anchorage, which took eighth place in 2017. All four of the SFU competitors will be making their first-ever NCAA appearance in the event.
 

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4 p.m. – Women’s 4x400 Meter Relay
GNAC National Champions: 0 | GNAC All-Americans: 7 Most Recent: SFU, 2025 (3rd)
Western Washington – Casie Kleine; Jayda Darroch; Kennedy Cook; Bec Bennett
Seed: 8 – 3:42.98 (3rd GNAC indoor all-time)
Simon Fraser – Charlotte Bosma; Raiya Matonovich; Jaeland Cummings; Emma Cannan
Seed: 10 – 3:43.67 (4th GNAC indoor all-time)
2026 NCAA Division II Leader: West Texas A&M, 3:37.78
 
A thrilling finish to last month’s GNAC Indoor Championships featured Western Washington taking gold and Simon Fraser following with silver in the women’s 4x400-meter relay. Both units will represent the league at the NCAA Championships, with WWU holding the eighth seed at 3:42.98 minutes and SFU clocking in at 4:43.67 minutes. Seven women’s 4x400-meter relay squads have earned indoor All-American honors historically, including Simon Fraser’s best-ever finish of third place a season ago. Cannan is the lone returner to the lineup from last year’s national bronze medalist, with Charlotte Bosma, Matonovich and Cummings each set for their first-ever national relay. Overall SFU has had three All-America 4x400-meter relay teams. The GNAC-champion Vikings will be in search of their second All-America 4x400-relay team, with the other coming in the form of a fourth-place national finish in 2010. Although Bennett has experience running on last year’s NCAA-seventh place DMR team for the Vikings, it will be the first-ever national 4x400-meter relay for her, Kennedy Cook, Jayda Darroch and Casie Kleine.