Proctor: Progressing forward, reflecting back

Lopes View provides GCU's student-athletes a platform to express their lives through stories within their sport, academic studies and community outreach.

GCU student-athlete Samuel Proctor is a member of the GCU men's cross country program. As a redshirt junior, Proctor has seen not only the GCU Athletics Department gorw, but he has witnessed the evolution of the GCU cross country program under head coach Sara Slattery and her staff. Proctor writes about being a runner at GCU.

SAMUEL PROCTOR / CROSS COUNTRY

T o think it's already been four years is mind-blowing to say the least. I mean, last year I was always joking with BK (Brandon Kocmoud), the team's fifth-year senior, that he didn't have much time before he'd need to get a family started. Suddenly, I'm going to be that fifth-year senior on the team--the old guy, the dad of the squad.

Looking Back
As an athlete, I went from the slowest guy on a subpar distance program three years ago to this season, in Seattle, captaining an incredible group of guys against PAC-12 schools like Washington, Oregon, and Washington State. Looking back at where this program started I can't believe all the changes that have taken place.

GCU has gone from just another Division II university to a competitive Division I school in only seven years. When I started, the athletes had a single gym downstairs with limited access to strength coaches and their specific sport program. Athletes had to be quite independent when it came to the performance center, athletic training room, and general athlete support. My freshman year, I remember spending my free time in study hall looking at other programs and what they provided their athletes. I couldn't help but think how far GCU must be from being comparable to programs that had been established for years. Now that has quickly changed.

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Proctor attributes much of his improvement to head coach Sara Slattery.

Looking at Now
In order to fully appreciate what we now have at GCU, one has to look back seven years when the Track & Field program didn't even exist. Thanks to Coach Flood and his enormous efforts, the program went from "no one and no bodies" to winning Division II National Championships and Division I WAC champions, producing Olympians, and staffing a top-tier collection of coaches. Track was always the core of the program, but realizing the need to strengthen the program as a whole, Flood hired Sara Slattery as the head cross country coach with her husband, Steve, working as a volunteer assistant.

For those who know anything about distance running, they know the Slatterys. They were both highly coveted national recruits out of high school and wound up at Colorado in Boulder. Both have run Olympic A standards in track & field. Steve won the USA title in the 3,000M steeplechase in 2003 and Sara won collegiate national titles in the 5,000m and 10,000m. They know their stuff and have completely changed the mindset of this program.

Whether we're in practice, competing, or just discussing where we want to go with our running, Steve and Sara are constant reminders of what fast really is. I might set a personal record in the 3K, but Steve will be the first one to remind me that he split faster times in a 10K tempo in college. One of my fellow teammates might run a great workout, but there's no doubt that Sara could flip back in her training log from her peak fitness and show a workout where she either matched or exceeded them. It's not in a tone of discouragement, but more of a realistic reminder of where we're trying to go. We can't settle with mediocre performances, because in the big picture, we don't just want to be at the top of no-name meets but competing against, and beating, nationally ranked teams.

They know their stuff and have completely changed the mindset of this program... Steve and Sara are constant reminders of what fast really is.

As if being in constant contact with people like Sara and Steve isn't enough, Sara makes sure to get our attention in different ways. Last year, she brought in Kenia Sinclair who is a three-time qualfier for the Olympics and has an 800M PR that bests most of us. As a first year coach, Kenia led Brandon Gonzalez and Bailie Jones to their first individual titles in the 800M. Athletes winning individual titles in the distance program is a marked transformation. It both drove us and changed how we trained and prepared for races.

Coach Sara also brought Molly Huddle to campus multiple times, which is incredible, considering she has over 20 US national titles, multiple world championship appearances, is an Olympian, and has held American records. On the guys' side, she had Nate Brannen came to talk to us before long run with us. Brannen really got on our level, talked to us, and answered all sorts of questions. It's not every day that someone has one of Canada's greatest mid-distance runners just show up to practice.

In terms of performance support, we now participate in Fusionetics. It's an individualized strength and injury prevention plan in partnership with our strength coach and athletic trainer. The performance center provides recovery aids such as protein options and Gatorade. We have a full time sports psychologist, Deb Wade, who is in consistent contact with athletes across the different sports. The coaches have an entire floor on a new, top of the line building at the center of campus. The compliance office was completely revamped and has been an imperative part of helping us transition to Division I. Academically, the Office of Student Athlete Development has put together an incredibly nice area for athletes to study, log study hall hours, and receive tutoring.

As athletes, we are supported in countless ways both athletically and academically. If I need help with a résumé that needs to be completed by the end of the day I can just call Emily Miller and she helps me get in contact with someone who knows all about résumés. Jenna Pearson and Jason Linders are constantly putting together athlete events ranging from practice business luncheons/dinners to money management seminars to networking opportunities. Our team strength coach Eddie Dimas is always racking his brain to hurt us in the next gym session, setting up times for us to make up a lift if we can't make the scheduled time, or even sending us the workout over an email or text so we can get it done independently if needed. From top to bottom this program has been completely changed.
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Proctor talking with Slattery after practice. (Photo/Steven Gonzalez)

Looking to the Future
I'm taking in everything about these last seasons. It's been a crazy few years getting to where we are as a cross country program, as it has been for the university and its transition from indebted and irrelevant to a focal point of West Phoenix. There's absolutely no doubt that this school is going to be relevant in everything that it involves itself in. Deciding to come to this university is more than just a place to be an athlete, more than a place to earn a degree, and more than a hangout spot for the next four years. This is where one comes to set themselves apart. All that's left is for you to decide whether you want to step up and stand out.

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Grand Canyon University Athletics

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