Lopes race to eighth place finishes at Washington Invitational

Saturday, October 1

Seattle, Wash.

11 A.M.

Grand Canyon

Washington Invitational

Lopes race to eighth place finishes at Washington Invitational

10/1/2016 3:19:00 PM | Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Men's Results Women's Results

By: Charles Hampton

SEATTLE -- Facing elite competition from across the country, the Grand Canyon men's and women's teams each raced to eighth place finishes at the Washington Invitational on Saturday morning. For the second consecutive race, Samuel Proctor and Elizabeth Balsan were the top finishers for the Lopes.

"Today was a really good day for both teams," head coach Sara Slattery said. "I am very pleased wiht the porgoress we have had in a year. The point of today was to preview our conference course before we race there in four weeks. Competition-wise, this was the toughest field we will race against all year. "

Balsan, the freshman from Anchorage, Ala., ran 21:33 on the women's 6,000m course to finish in 42^nd place overall. The women's squad finished with 237 team points, 14 ahead of conference-rival Seattle U. The fifth-place Lopes finished 39 points behind the third-place Redhawks at last year's WAC Championship in Orem, Utah.

"Our women were strong today," Slattery said. "I was the first time our women have beaten Seattle U in our program history."

Mariah Montoya was the second finisher for the women in 21:39, good for 46^th place, with Paige Hildebrandt (60^th – 22:01), Anna Henry (66^th – 22:11), and Lacey Peterson (69^th – 22:18) rounding out the score for GCU.

"Elizabeth led our team in her first-ever 6k with Mariah right behind her with a very strong run," Slattery added. "I was really impressed with Paige. She is a freshman, but raced like a veteran and moved up the whole way. Anna had a big PR and this was a breakthrough race for her in cross country. Anna, Emily and Lacey will be very important for us to be successful at conference."

Proctor covered the men's 8,000m course at Jefferson Park Golf Course in 24:32, good for 28^th place overall. The Lopes men scored 207 team points, with their top-five scorers consisting of Jose Retana (35^th - 24:43), Brendan Wagler (63^rd – 25:28), Jonny Holsten (70^th - 25:47), and Matthew Anciaux (75^th – 26:07).

"Every one of our men ran PRs today. We were 12 points behind Seattle U and that is the closest we've ever been," Slattery said. "Sam led our team and had his strongest race of the year. Jose ran a 50-second PR, working well with Sam. Brendan, Jonny, Gage and Matt all had strong performances and we'll need them closer to Jose in order to bridge the gap with the top teams in our conference.

In the men's team race, No. 3 Oregon had four runners finish in the top-six and all five runners finish in the top-12 as they held off No. 21 Washington to win the team title with 26 points, 13 points ahead of the runner-up Huskies. Three-time defending NCAA champion Edward Cheserek of Oregon cruised to a 19-second win over the field to claim the men's individual title.

The No. 4 Oregon women's team was unable to hold off the meet hosts as No. 12 Washington dominated the meet to claim the women's team title with 24 points, winning by 33 points. The Huskies placed six runners in the top-10, led by Charlotte Prouse, who took home individual honors with a first-place run of 19:36.

"Overall, I am pleased with the weekend," Slattery concluded. " We got a good feel for the course and I feel we will be hungrier and fitter four weeks from now and ready for the conference meet."

Select members of each squad will next line up at the Thunderbird Classic, hosted by Mesa Community College on Saturday, Oct. 8. The race will start at 8 a.m. MST.

GCU Individual Finishers
Place: Name, Time (pts)
Women
42 Elizabeth Balsan, 21:33.20 (37)
46 Mariah Montoya, 21:39.50 (40)
60 Paige Hildebrandt, 22:01.30 (50)
66 Anna Henry, 22:11.40 (54)
69 Lacey Peterson, 22:18.80 (56)
77 Emily Wilkinson, 22:43.90 (58)
83 Taylor Bond, 23:26.80 (61)
84 Kellie Stroupe, 23:29.20
88 Yarithza Soto, 23:40.60
91 Bailie Jones, 24:14.70
Men
28 Samuel Proctor, 24:32.60 (25)
35 Jose Retana, 24:43.80 (31)
63 Brendan Wagler, 25:28.70 (46)
70 Jonny Holsten, 25:47.60 (51)
75 Matthew Anciaux, 26:07.40 (54)
76 Gage Hale, 26:11.30 (55)
77 Angel Salazar, 26:11.80 (56)
85 Sammy Schilling, 27:30.10