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Grand Canyon University Athletics
GCU records fall in Day 1 of UW Invitational
1/27/2017 10:19:00 PM | Track and Field
SEATTLE, Wash. – The Grand Canyon men's and women's track & field teams have made some noise in a crowded Day 1 on Friday at the Washington Invitational. Four GCU records fall as several Lopes post conference-leading times.
"It is a chance for some of our distance kids to race at sea level and produce some very fast times," head coach Tom Flood commented prior to the meet.
With more than a thousand athletes competing in the UW Invitational, one of the most marquee events in the NCAA indoor season, four GCU records were broken at the Indoor Dempsey on Day 1.
"It was great day to be a distance runner," Flood said after Day 1. "Sara Slattery has done a fantastic job training with our distance runners and preparing them to take advantage of the sea-level meet. I am really proud of our distance runner's performances and how well they represented Grand Canyon track & field today."
Paige Hildebrandt, a freshmen from Peoria, Ariz., shattered Grand Canyon's 3,000-meter record by nearly 12 seconds with a time of 10:00.75. In a marquee event, Hildebrandt finished ahead of runners from Idaho, Cal Poly, Washington and WAC-foe Seattle U. The time also placed the freshmen first in the conference.
Kelsi Klotter (17:14.71) and Mariah Montoya (17:27.18) shatter GCU record times in the 5,000-meter run to place first and second in the WAC, respectively. Breaking Montoya's record from 2016, Klotter broke the record by over 42 seconds. Montoya's would-be-record, just behind Klotter's fresh record, broke her personal-best time by over 29 seconds.
Jose Retana Ceballos and Sam Proctor also made some noise for Grand Canyon in a crowded field, breaking a four-year GCU 5,000-meter record of 15:07.58 set in 2013. Shortly after Retana broke GCU's record by nearly 26 seconds, Proctor came in less than two seconds ahead of his teammate in the next heat of runners. Proctor and Retana now rank first and second in the WAC, respectively.
Other Day 1 notables:
Marcus Flannigan comes near GCU's 200-meter record with a time of 21.86, just .49 seconds off Lance Park's 2015 record of 21.37. Flannigan continued to shine in just GCU's second meet of the season as the senior placed fifth behind BYU's Tatenda Tsumba (21.48), Adidas' Jeremy Dodson (21.58), Washington's Jacopo Spano (21.64) and Trinity Western's James Linde (21.72).
Tarasue Barnett threw a personal-best 18.42 meters in the weight throw, just 3 centimeters short of a new GCU. The mark placed the 2016 Olympian fourth behind Cal's Destiny Parker (19.54m), Stanford's Valarie Allman (19.24m) and Montana's Hana Feilzer (18.44m), and first in the conference by 1.37 meters over runner-up Chantil Martin of Utah Valley.
After four events in the men's heptathlon, Grand Canyon's Pierre-Louis Ricou (2,962) and Grant Carpenter (2,814) sit in fourth and fifth place, respectively, among some of the nation's top student-athletes. Sitting just behind Arizona's Avery Mickens (3,117), Oregon's Mitch Modin (3,032) and Washington's Josh Gordon (2,991), the pair of Lopes head into the final three events (60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meter) scheduled for Day 2 of the UW invitational on Saturday.
"We are looking forward to more fantastic performances tomorrow," Flood added. "The most exciting thing is that we will continue to get better and improve our times and marks for conference."
Day 2 of the UW Invitational continues Saturday, starting at 9:00 a.m. PST with the second part of the heptathlon and all running events for a full day of events.
"It is a chance for some of our distance kids to race at sea level and produce some very fast times," head coach Tom Flood commented prior to the meet.
With more than a thousand athletes competing in the UW Invitational, one of the most marquee events in the NCAA indoor season, four GCU records were broken at the Indoor Dempsey on Day 1.
"It was great day to be a distance runner," Flood said after Day 1. "Sara Slattery has done a fantastic job training with our distance runners and preparing them to take advantage of the sea-level meet. I am really proud of our distance runner's performances and how well they represented Grand Canyon track & field today."
Paige Hildebrandt, a freshmen from Peoria, Ariz., shattered Grand Canyon's 3,000-meter record by nearly 12 seconds with a time of 10:00.75. In a marquee event, Hildebrandt finished ahead of runners from Idaho, Cal Poly, Washington and WAC-foe Seattle U. The time also placed the freshmen first in the conference.
Kelsi Klotter (17:14.71) and Mariah Montoya (17:27.18) shatter GCU record times in the 5,000-meter run to place first and second in the WAC, respectively. Breaking Montoya's record from 2016, Klotter broke the record by over 42 seconds. Montoya's would-be-record, just behind Klotter's fresh record, broke her personal-best time by over 29 seconds.
Jose Retana Ceballos and Sam Proctor also made some noise for Grand Canyon in a crowded field, breaking a four-year GCU 5,000-meter record of 15:07.58 set in 2013. Shortly after Retana broke GCU's record by nearly 26 seconds, Proctor came in less than two seconds ahead of his teammate in the next heat of runners. Proctor and Retana now rank first and second in the WAC, respectively.
Well that was short lived! Sam Proctor beats Jose Retana's new 5K school record at UW Invite!! (14:39.65) 1&2 in WAC! #recordbreakers pic.twitter.com/52TZ4G9HR4
— GCU Track/XC (@GCU_TrackXC) January 28, 2017
Other Day 1 notables:
Marcus Flannigan comes near GCU's 200-meter record with a time of 21.86, just .49 seconds off Lance Park's 2015 record of 21.37. Flannigan continued to shine in just GCU's second meet of the season as the senior placed fifth behind BYU's Tatenda Tsumba (21.48), Adidas' Jeremy Dodson (21.58), Washington's Jacopo Spano (21.64) and Trinity Western's James Linde (21.72).
Tarasue Barnett threw a personal-best 18.42 meters in the weight throw, just 3 centimeters short of a new GCU. The mark placed the 2016 Olympian fourth behind Cal's Destiny Parker (19.54m), Stanford's Valarie Allman (19.24m) and Montana's Hana Feilzer (18.44m), and first in the conference by 1.37 meters over runner-up Chantil Martin of Utah Valley.
After four events in the men's heptathlon, Grand Canyon's Pierre-Louis Ricou (2,962) and Grant Carpenter (2,814) sit in fourth and fifth place, respectively, among some of the nation's top student-athletes. Sitting just behind Arizona's Avery Mickens (3,117), Oregon's Mitch Modin (3,032) and Washington's Josh Gordon (2,991), the pair of Lopes head into the final three events (60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meter) scheduled for Day 2 of the UW invitational on Saturday.
"We are looking forward to more fantastic performances tomorrow," Flood added. "The most exciting thing is that we will continue to get better and improve our times and marks for conference."
Day 2 of the UW Invitational continues Saturday, starting at 9:00 a.m. PST with the second part of the heptathlon and all running events for a full day of events.
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