Women Finish Second, Men Third at WAC Outdoor Championships

Wednesday, May 14

Orem, UT

Grand Canyon

WAC Outdoor Championships

Shavine Hodges

Women Finish Second, Men Third at WAC Outdoor Championships

5/17/2014 6:44:00 PM | Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

15 Lopes crowned champion in Orem

The Grand Canyon University track and field teams wrapped up the fourth and final day of the WAC Outdoor Championships today in Orem, Utah. The women's team brought home second in the field of nine, tallying 164 points and the men finished third, totaling 156 points in the final meet of the season for the Antelopes.

Click here to view photos from Saturday's competition in Orem.

"I am very proud of all the performances and efforts of both our men's and women's teams this week," said head coach Tom Flood. "For our women to finish second overall in the team scoring outdoor in our first year at the Division 1 level is truly remarkable." "I really liked the way our guys battled this week. We knew coming into the meet that our numbers were a little thin after the indoor championships," stated Flood. "Our guys left it all on the track and fought for every single point."

Shavine Hodges made her final competition in a GCU uniform a memorable one, racing to a first-place finish in both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash. Hodges tied her own school record in the 100-meter dash, blazing to a season-best time of 11.33 seconds. Her time in the 200-meter dash was also the fastest of the season, as Hodges crossed the line in a time of 23.45 seconds. Samantha Bogatz picked up valuable points for the Lopes in the sprints, placing second in the 100-meter dash (11.71 seconds) and third in the 200-meter dash (24.27 seconds). Kevina Godfrey finished sixth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.10 seconds.

Amanda Sims raced to a second-place in the 400-meter hurdles after recording a time of 1:01.59 on Friday, marking the fastest time of the season for Sims in the race. Emily Shieh placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdles, collecting a time of 14.64 seconds in the race.

Lauren Graham led a group of Canyon pole vaulters who finished in the top three of Saturday's standings, garnering first after winning a jump-off with teammate Amy Hop for first after both cleared the bar at 3.85 meters. Behind Hop's second-place finish was Jennifer Rolph, who cleared a height of 3.70 meters. In the same event, Ashley Privett took seventh with a height of 3.40 meters.

Jessica Yates jumped to a first-place finish in the triple jump, leaping to a season-best distance of 12.40 meters. Andrea Olstead's mark of 11.57 meters placed her sixth in the competition.

After taking home a first and third on Friday in a pair of throwing events, Vanessa Levy placed fifth in the javelin throw on Saturday, recording a heave of 38.37 meters. Levy also posted a sixth in the shot put with a mark of 13.06 meters. Nyomi Mosley took eighth in the same event with a toss of 11.60 meters.

Christine Miles, Sims and Hodges put together a time of 3:43.40 in the 4x400-meter relay to finish first in the relay. Shieh, Bogatz, Godfrey, and Hodges each ran a leg of the 4x100-meter relay, which took second on Saturday after finishing in a time of 45.68 seconds.

"On the women's side we were once again led by Shavine Hodges, Vanessa Levy, Samantha Bogatz, Jessica Yates and our pole vaulters," added Flood.

In the men's events, Lance Parker captured a first in both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash on Saturday. The speedster marked his fastest time of the season in the 100-meter dash, finishing in 10.39 seconds. In the 200-meter dash, Parker posted a time of 21.19 seconds.Cody Bidlow (10.69 seconds) and Marcus Flannigan (10.72 seconds) placed third and fourth in the 100-meter dash, respectively. Flannigan also took sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.89 seconds. Matt Kaldawi's time of 22.29 seconds gave him an eighth in the 200-meter dash.

Jahliell Wiltshire and LeSean Marks finished 1-2 in the 110-meter hurdles. Wiltshire crossed the line with a season-best time of 14.39 seconds and Marks completed the event in 14.68 seconds on Saturday. Marks also took home a third in the 400-meter hurdles after clocking a season-best time of 51.67 seconds in the final.

Josh Ralston's time of 47.47 seconds in the quarter mile was good enough for second and Stephan Bullard placed fourth, making the trip around the track in 47.54 seconds. Tyler Vandyke came in third in the 5,000-meter run, finishing the race with a time of 15:22.39. In the mid-distance events, Ryan Naylon finished seventh in the 800-meter run, posting a time of 1:55.04.

Akintunde Adeyemi leaped to a third-place finish in the triple jump after posting a mark of 14.59 meters. AAron Hill took eighth in the same event with a distance of 13.46 meters. Adeyemi also placed sixth in the high jump, clearing a height of 1.96 meters.

The quartet of Niels Theis, Flannigan, Bidlow, and Parker teamed up to take home gold in the 4x100-meter relay, finishing with in a time of 40.59 seconds. Marks, Bullard, Ralston, and Wiltshire placed first in the 4x400-meter relay after finishing the relay with a time of 3:12.29, which is the fastest time a GCU relay team has put together this spring.

"On the men's side we were led by Lance Parker, Michael Bolligar, LeSean Marks, Jahliell Wiltshire and true freshman, Marcus Flannigan," commented Flood.

"It is very difficult to win a conference title at this level outdoor without scoring a single point in the five distance events (195 team points available). We have a long way to go to improve our performances and depth in the distance area," added Flood. "We also definitely need to improve our team depth in the throwing events if we want to win at this level."

With the conclusion of the WAC Outdoor Championships, the 2014 track and field season—which proved to be very successful for both the men's and women's teams—comes to a close for the Lopes.

Coach Flood's final comments on the season, "We lose and will dearly miss a lot of very talented seniors but the future still looks very bright for GCU Track & Field program. We already can't wait for next year!"

Vanessa Levy was named the women's Outstanding Field Performer and Lance Parker was selected as the men's Outstanding Track Performer by the conference coaches.

Click here to see the final results from the championships.

WAC Individual Champions
Shavine Hodges (100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 4x400-meter relay)
Lauren Graham (Pole Vault)
Vanessa Levy (Discus)
Jessica Yates (Triple Jump)
Lance Parker (100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 4x100-meter relay)
Jahliell Wiltshire (100-meter hurdles & 4x400-meter relay)
Cody Bidlow (4x100-meter relay)
Marcus Flannigan (4x100-meter relay)
Niels Theijs (4x100-meter relay)
Amanda Sims (4x400-meter relay)
Christine Miles (4x400-meter relay)
Stephan Bullard (4x400-meter relay)
Josh Ralston (4x400-meter relay)
LeSean Marks (4x400-meter relay)