Tuesday, December 13, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – After leading Western Washington to its second sweep of the conference titles in the last three seasons, Pee Wee Halsell has been voted by his peers as the 2022 GNAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year.

The awards are the eighth and ninth overall GNAC Cross Country Coach of the Year honors for Halsell, who is in 36th year as the Vikings head coach. Previously, Halsell was named the men’s Coach of the Year in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2019. He received the women’s honor in 2015 and 2019.

Halsell’s charges won both team trophies at the GNAC Cross Country Championships in November. The WWU men placed all five scoring runners in the top 10 to win with a score of 31 points. All five runners were named All-GNAC as the Vikings finish 21 points ahead of second place Simon Fraser.

The Western Washington men went on to place second at the NCAA West Regional, the third regional runner-up finish for the Vikings in the GNAC era, and finished 14th at the NCAA Division II Championships.

The WWU women placed two runners in the top 10 at the GNAC Championships and four in the top 20 to amass a winning score of 64 points, finishing 14 points clear of second-place Saint Martin’s. The Vikings went on to finish sixth at the NCAA West Regional, continuing a string of 14 years where WWU has finished in the top eight at the regional meet.

Between the men and women, Halsell, along with assistant coaches TJ Garlatz and Haley O’Connor, coached seven athletes to All-GNAC honors and five to all-region accolades.

When combining cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field, Halsell has received 26 GNAC Coach of the Year awards in his career.