Cross Country Opens Season with Strong Finishes in Flagstaff

Saturday, September 5

Flagstaff, Ariz.

Grand Canyon

George Kyte Invitational

Photo by: Darryl Webb

Cross Country Opens Season with Strong Finishes in Flagstaff

9/5/2015 7:10:00 PM | Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Grand Canyon University men's and women's cross country teams each earned the fastest team times in school history at Northern Arizona's George Kyte Invitational. The squad has been competing in the competition since their Division II days and both teams earned fourth place overall in the competition.

"I was really proud of both teams," said head coach Sara Slattery. "It was good for me to see everyone race and it was a great starting point for the season. It allowed us to practice our race plan and prepare for our conference meet which will be at 5,000 feet of altitude in Utah this season."

For the women's squad, the team combined for a time of 1:21:02—less than two minutes behind Arizona's third place finish. GCU was led by senior Kelsi Klotter who posted a time of 15:46.2 in the 2.6 mile race for 10^th place.

Redshirt-junior Emily Wilkinson finished 13^th (15:57.0) while sophomore Mariah Montoya placed 15^th (16:07.3). Rounding out the top-five was Rebekah Young at 20^th (16:35.3) and Lacey Peterson at 21^st (16:36.0).

"The women's team held together really well even though we had a thirty minute rain delay, but the weather wound up being really nice for both races," explained Slattery. "On the women's team, 13 of the 14 improved their times from last year and placed a lot higher."

For the men's team, the team was less than a minute behind Arizona State in the standings for the 4.5 mile competition. Redshirt-sophomore Samuel Proctor led the way with a seventh place finish and a time of 23:27.2, marking his strongest finish as an Antelope so far.

Coming in 17^th was senior Matthew Jackson who posted a time of 24:12.3. Junior Jose Retana and sophomore Chris Baker earned 20^th (24:27.7) and 21^st (24:28.9), respectively. Freshman Brendan Wagler had a time of 24:40.2 to place 24^th.

"I was really proud of the men," continued Slattery. "We had 10 PRs in that race and we were starting a little conservative since we were at altitude and picked it up the second half. Sam had a two minute PR jump and Chris beat his time from last season by 50 seconds."

The Lopes will travel to Santa Clarita, Calif., for the Mustang Challenge, hosted by the Master's College on Sept. 19. A full recap of the event will be available at www.gculopes.com.