Wildcats decorated at GNAC Outdoor Championship

BELLINGHAM — The Central Washington University track and field team racked up 12 gold medals at the GNAC Outdoor Championships in early May, according to a statement by CWU athletics. 

“We came to Bellingham to compete for titles as a team and we fought as hard as we could, ending up just short of our goal of winning a team title, but we made our presence felt,” head coach Jonathan Hill said.  

The men's and women's teams each finished in the top three and brought home six silver and bronze medals collectively. Emy Ntekpere and E’lexis Hollis accounted for half of the gold medals, each earning three.  

Ntekpere’s performance at the GNAC Outdoor Championships earned her the Women’s Field Athlete of the Meet and Women’s High Point Scorer. Her gold medals came in the high jump (1.73m), long jump (5.88m), and triple jump (12.54m).  

“This meet has historic implications — E'lexis Hollis and Johan Correa running their last races in our uniforms and doing so in historic fashion. Meet record in the 4x100 and 200m for E'Lexis — she's a legend here and one of the best sprinters in D2 history, but winning her first 100 and 200 titles as well as her first Track Athlete of the Year Award, was really special,” Hill said.  

The Wildcats had seven other players bringing home the gold. Elise Hopper, Zoe Gonzales and Ashlyn Nielsen were anchored by Hollis in the 4x100 relay with a time of 45.16 seconds. Payton Elenbaas recorded a personal best 55.44m in the hammer throw. Carley Huber set a personal record in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.13. Lauryn McGough won the javelin and pole vault. Johan Correa finished with a 1:49.68 in the 800 meters. David “Boogy” Brown finished the 110-meter hurdles in 14.32 seconds.  

“I'd like to give a shoutout to our multi-sport athletes — Boogy Brown, Leighton Menge and Capri Sims.  Allowing athletes to contribute to CWU Athletics in multiple ways, being multi-sport athletes is a really cool thing here and we welcome those that want to compete year-round.  We've got great coaches across our department who see the value in this and support their kids in every way,” Hill said.