Two GCU records fall at Mountain T's Invitational

Friday, January 29

Flagstaff, Ariz.

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Grand Canyon

Mountain T's Invitational

1/31/2016 11:17:00 AM | Track and Field

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By: Charles Hampton

The Grand Canyon men's and women's track teams' record-breaking indoor season continued this weekend as both squads wrapped up competition at the Mountain T's Invitational on the campus of Northern Arizona on Saturday. The Lopes had two more indoor school records go down as Pierre-Louis Ricou recorded a score of 5378 in the men's heptathlon to take home the win and Tarasue Barnett launched a 14.87m put in the women's shot put to finish as the runner-up in the event.

With only four weeks to go until the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Nampa, Idaho, head coach Tom Flood said the Lopes were training through this meet, either running 'off' events or resting athletes for next weekend's competition.

"We had some outstanding performances, highlighted by Tarasue's school record in the shot put on Friday night and Pierre-Louis' school record in the heptathlon today," Flood said after the meet. "Both Tarasue and Pierre are as good as advertised."

Ricou dominated the heptathlon, winning six of the seven events of the competition. His score of 5378 smashed the previous indoor school record of 4803, set by Timmy Johnson, also at the Mountain T's Invitational, in 2015. Ricou's performance not only was the best in the conference so far this season, but also ranks 11^th in the country.

"Pierre is a very talented athlete that is just starting to scratch the surface of his full potential," Flood said. "We will rely on him to score a boat load of points for us at the indoor conference championships!"

The junior from Mornac, France, took the lead from the very start of competition, opening up with mark of 7.04 in the 60 meters to score 868 points and a long jump of 7.09m (23-03.25) for 835 points in the first two events. Ricou's strongest event came in the 60-meter hurdles, running a time of 8.35 that scored 896 points and separated him from the any college competition.

Barnett's mark of 14.87 meters broke the previous school record of 13.66m—held by Vanessa Levy—by over a meter. Barnett opened up the competition with a throw of 13.02m, which set a new indoor personal record for the sophomore from Kingston, Jamaica. It didn't last long though, as Barnett followed it up with a second attempt at 13.99m to qualify for the finals out of her flight. Barnett's record-breaking put came on her fifth attempt of the competition and launched her from fifth place to second with one throw to go.

"Tarasue's best event will come outdoor in the discus, where she will have a chance to represent Jamaica at the Rio Olympics, but Coach Riccio has done an outstanding job with her, and all our throwers, with the indoor implements."

Among the races on the track, Aaron Thurber was runner-up in the men's 60 meters with a mark of 6.74 seconds. Tope Williams placed fourth in the women's 60 meters and fourth in the 200 meters. Josh Ralston and Anthony Phelps raced to third and fourth-place finishes in the men's 600 meters, while Brandon Gonzalez and Kalen Meza finish third and fifth in the 800 meters. Milan Howard placed second in the 60 meter hurdles and the men's 4x400 were edged out by Northern Arizona by 0.02 seconds in the meet's final running event.

In field events, Scott Marshall won the pole vault. The Lopes had a number of top finishers in the high jump where Aaliyah Cook and Jalissa Smith tied for third in the women's high jump and Ralston tied for second in the men's high jump. Andrea Olstead and Kevina Godfrey placed third and fourth in the long jump, as did Jude Olear and Ayodele Adeyemi on the men's side. Olstead came back and won the triple jump while Meagan Kualii finished third overall. Ahmir LaMar and Adeyemi placed third and fourth in the men's triple jump.

Despite training through the meet and leaving a number of runners back in Phoenix, the Lopes posted a pair of second-place finishes as team, both trailing meet-host Northern Arizona.

The Lopes will have a short week before heading back out on the road against as they return to Albuquerque, N.M. for the New Mexico Classic.