PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Western Oregon track and field program picked up some more hardware for its indoor season Tuesday as head coach Octavious Gillespie-Bennett was named both the GNAC Men's and Women's Coach of the Year while Ujunwa Nwokoma was named the GNAC Women's Newcomer of the Year.

Gillespie-Bennett guided both the Wolves men's and women's programs to indoor conference titles in 2023 - the first for the men since 2012 and the first one ever for the women. The men's team won a close race for the top spot, beating out Western Washington by six points and Northwest Nazarene by 10 points. It was much the same for the women as they finished just five points ahead of Western Washington and 12 points in front of Simon Fraser.

As for Nwokoma, the Mt. Hood Community College transfer broke her own indoor school record in the long jump with a mark of 19 feet to win the GNAC title - the eighth-best mark in GNAC history.

2023 GNAC INDOOR AWARDS
MEN
Athlete of the Year - Steven Schmidt, NNU (unanimous selection)
Coach of the Year - Octavious Gillespie-Bennett, WOU
Newcomer of the Year - Brayden Durfee, NNU
Freshman of the Year - Gabe Menicke, WWU & Hewie Nguyen, SMU

WOMEN
Athlete of the Year - Vanessa Aniteye, SPU
Coach of the Year - Octavious Gillespie-Bennett, WOU
Newcomer of the Year - Ujunwa Nwokoma, WOU
Freshman of the Year - Emma Cannan, SFU & Meaera Shannon, WWU