By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

EMPORIA, Kan. – The second day of competition at the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships proved to be an eventful one for Great Northwest Athletic Conference competitors, who broke conference records and took home All-America accolades at Welch Stadium.
 
Anders Larsen of Alaska Anchorage and Drew Klein of Central Washington became the first GNAC athletes of the weekend to take home All-American honors, as they each put forth career-best efforts in the men’s decathlon. Larsen racked up 7,041 points to finish in seventh place, and Klein was right behind with 7,036 points to take eighth place as the duo each made the national podium. Larsen’s point total was the fifth-best in GNAC history while Klein’s stands at sixth-best all-time for the conference.
 
Larsen’s point total featured a victory in the 400-meters, where he ran a time of 48.06 seconds to finish just shy of the GNAC decathlon record of 47.78 seconds set by Kodiak Landis of Central Washington in 2018. He also finished third in the 100-meters in 10.87 seconds, fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.94 seconds and fifth in the javelin with a throw of 160-1 feet (48.80 meters). He became the second man in UAA history to earn All-American in the decathlon, joining Cody Thomas who won the national title in 2016 after finishing seventh in 2014.
 
Klein made his way up the leaderboard with a strong finish, placing in the top-10 in each of the last five events. That included a win in the pole vault, where he cleared 16-0.75 feet (4.90 meters) to come up just shy of the GNAC decathlon record of 16-2.75 feet (4.95 meters) held by Northwest Nazarene’s Payton Lewis (2018). Other highlight events for Klein included a third-place finish in the javelin at 168-4 feet (51.30 meters) and a fifth-place finish in the discus at 123-8 feet (37.70 meters). Klein joined Landis, who finished fifth in 2018, and Braydon Maier, who was seventh in 2019, to become the third Central Washington athlete to garner All-American in the decathlon. Overall Larsen and Klein became the sixth and seventh men in conference history to earn All-American in the competition.
 
The GNAC-record holding Western Washington men’s 4x400-meter relay squad did it again on Friday, finishing with the fifth-fastest preliminary time to punch its ticket to Saturday’s finals which are at 5:20 p.m. (Pacific). The Viking quartet of Jackson Moffitt, Sam Foust, Evin Ford and Lucas Brenek clocked in at 3:07.32 minutes, breaking their own GNAC record of 3:08.81 minutes set at the 2026 GNAC Championships.
 
The Viking women’s 4x400-meter relay team followed suit directly after the men, also breaking the GNAC record on their way to qualifying for the finals. Casie Kleine, Jayda Darroch, Kennedy Cook and Bec Bennett teamed up to run 3:35.92 minutes, topping Central Washington’s conference record of 3:36.90 minutes set earlier this season. It was the fourth-fastest overall time among the 16 quartets that competed in the opening round. Central Washington also made the finals, running a time of 3:37.77 minutes to grab the eighth and final spot for Saturday’s race at 5:30 p.m. (Pacific). CWU’s foursome included Ellie DeGroot, Carley Huber, Donna Marie Harris and Elise Hopper.
 
Colton Plummer of Simon Fraser punched his ticket to the final round in the men’s 800-meters, checking in with a time of 1:48.69 minutes in Friday’s preliminary round. That guaranteed him All-American status in the event, as he will compete for a national title on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. (Pacific). Plummer’s season-best time of 1:48.03 minutes – second-fastest in GNAC outdoor history – was faster than Friday’s top preliminary time of 1:48.58 minutes.
 
In the women’s 800-meters, it was SFU’s Veronica Dee who made the cut and will advance to Saturday’s finals set for 3:25 p.m. (Pacific). Dee cruised to a time of 2:07.64 minutes, which was fifth-fastest among the group of 22 runners. Jess Chisar of Alaska Anchorage also competed in the event, narrowly missing finals qualification despite running the eighth-fastest overall time at 2:07.99 minutes.
 
John Peckham of Alaska Anchorage competed for the second consecutive day, racing in the finals of the men’s steeplechase. Peckham clocked in with a time of 9:07.16 minutes, wrapping up his season in 11th place among the 12 finalists. Peckham’s season-best time of 8:55.44 minutes elevated his name to No. 8 on the GNAC all-time performance list. Stephen Clark of Lee ran 8:50.14 minutes on Friday, winning the national title just ahead of Max Bonenberger of Colorado Mines who finished in 8:50.53 minutes.
 
Central Washington’s Hopper competed for the second day in-a-row, taking on the women’s 200-meters on Friday. She clocked in with a time of 23.62 seconds in the preliminary round, narrowly missing advancing to the finals by two spots. Hopper owns the fourth-fastest 200-meters time in GNAC outdoor history, hitting 23.53 seconds earlier this spring.
 
Ray Gerrard represented Western Oregon in the men’s discus on Friday as he competed in his first NCAA Championship event. The junior posted a throw of 170-6 feet (51.97 meters) on his third and final attempt, which was good enough for 10th place among the field of 22 throwers. He came up just short of his season best of 177-9 feet (54.19 meters), which stands as the fifth-best discus throw in conference history. Liam Wall of Western Washington also competed in the event, finishing 22nd with a throw of 163-9 feet (49.93 meters). Wall broke the GNAC outdoor discus record earlier this spring with a throw of 188-4 feet (57.40 meters). Alan de Falchi of Lake Erie won the competition, throwing 198-5 feet (60.48 meters) to claim the national gold medal.
 
COMING UP: The third and final day of competition kicks off on Saturday morning, and national champions will be crowned throughout a jam-packed day. Live results will be available online here and a live stream can be viewed at www.ncaa.com.