'Lopes Finish Strong at Don Kirby Invitational

Friday, February 14

Albuquerque, NM

Grand Canyon

Don Kirby Invitational

Jelena Andjelkovic

Photo by: Darryl Webb

2/15/2014 7:47:00 PM | Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Several ‘Lopes record season-best marks in Albuquerque

The Grand Canyon University men's and women's track and field teams concluded competition at the Don Kirby Invitational today in Albuquerque, N.M. The 29-team invitational, which featured several of the top-tier track and field programs in the country, marked the final competition for the Antelopes before they compete in the WAC Indoor Championships.

"Again, overall we had some very fine performances at most likely the top collegiate track and field meet in the country this weekend," said head coach Tom Flood.

Shavine Hodges ran a season-best in the 60-meter dash, recording a time of 7.39 seconds and taking home a fifth-place finish in a very difficult field. She holds the fastest time in the WAC in the race.

Jelena Andjelkovic recorded a season-best in the 800-meter run, finishing the mid-distance race with a time of 2:16.71. Anjelkovic, who currently holds the third-fastest time in the WAC in the run, broke her own school record in the event with her time on Saturday.

Maria Kropf raced to a fifth-place finish in her section of the hurdles, crossing the finish line in a time of 8.62 seconds. Kropf has posted the second-best mark in the WAC in the hurdles.

The quartet of Hodges, Jennifer Dowty, and Amanda Sims posted a conference-best time in the 4x400-meter relay, finishing with a time of 3:44.21.

Lauren Graham, the conference leader in the pole vault, vaulted to a season-best of 4.01 meters on Saturday. Teammates Amy Hop and Jennifer Rolph both cleared the bar at 3.86 meters, recording their top marks of 2014.

Jessica Yates moved to third on the list of top performances in the conference in the triple jump, leaping to a season-best of 11.74 meters.

Vanessa Levy broke a school record for the second straight day, this time in the shot put, recording a toss of 13.16 meters.

On the men's side of things, Jahliell Wiltshire placed fourth in his section of the 60-meter hurdles after posting a time of 8.27 seconds. Saturday's time in the hurdles is the fastest for Wiltshire this season and the second-fastest in the WAC.

The men's 4x400-meter relay team of LeSean Marks, Josh Ralston, Oliver Smith, and Stephan Bullard posted an 11^th place finish in a very strong field of contenders. They hold the second-fastest time in the conference in the relay.

"I was especially pleased with the performances of Tyler Vandyke (3000-meter run), Shavine Hodges (60-meter dash), Vanessa Levy (weight throws), and Samantha Bogatz (200-meter dash)," added Flood.

"I think we have positioned ourselves to have legitimate shots at winning conference team titles for both the men and women," concluded Flood. "We now have two weeks to get healthy, stay sharp and leave it all on the track in Idaho."

The 'Lopes will be off next weekend before returning to action Feb. 26-28 when they travel to Moscow, Idaho for the WAC Indoor Championships. The championships, which will mark as the first for Grand Canyon at the Division I level, will be held inside the Kibbie Dome on the campus of the University of Idaho.