Cross Country opens 2016 season in Flagstaff

The Grand Canyon men's and women's cross country teams are set to kick off the 2016 season by traveling up to Flagstaff, Ariz., for the George Kyte Classic on Saturday, Sept. 3.

The meet, hosted by Northern Arizona, will be held at Buffalo Park with the men's 4.5-mile race beginning at 1:30 p.m. MST and the women's 2.6-mile race following at 2:30 p.m. MST.

Head coach Sara Slattery begins her second season at the helm and is looking forward to gauging the fitness of her team.

"The point (of the opening race) is to use this to get the wheels turning and see where everyone is at," Slattery said. "We have run this race for the last few years and it is a good opportunity to compare our fitness each season."

A year ago, the Lopes finished in fourth place in both the men's and women's races as Northern Arizona swept the team titles with 15 and 32 team points respectively.

Sam Proctor is the top returner on the men's side having been the Lopes' top finisher in all five of his races in 2015. The junior from South Royalton, Vt., earned First-Team All-WAC honors with his seventh-place finish at the 2015 WAC Championships in Orem, Utah. Slattery is looking for Proctor to continue the same success from a year ago.

"Sam had a great summer," Slattery said. "He is really strong right now and I expect him to have his best cross country season. I would like to see him continue to improve his times and be in the top five at the WAC Championships this year."

The men's team will look to improve on their fifth place finish a year ago, returning all seven runners from their conference team a year ago. Another one of those returners is senior Jose Retana, who managed to break the school record in the 3,000m steeplechase on the track last spring.

On the women's side, the Lopes will look to replace two top performers from a year ago, Kelsi Klotter and Rebecca Young. Slattery returns a number of scoring runners from a year ago, including Emily Wilkinson, Mariah Monoya, Anna Henry and Lacey Peterson. Mixed in is the most talented freshmen classes the Lopes have in program history with the additions of Elizabeth Balsan, Paige Hildenbrant, Yarithza Soto and Ericka Wallace.

"Mariah, Anna, and Lacey had a great summer of training and have returned really strong," Slattery said. "Elizabeth Balsan has come in just as strong and I can see the four of them pushing each other this season and really helping our team up front."

The Lopes will have plenty of local competition in Flagstaff with Arizona and Arizona State expected to join host Northern Arizona at the meet. NAU's men are currently ranked No. 3 in the country in the first USTFCCCA rankings.

Final results will be available shortly after the meet at GCULopes.com.

Players Mentioned

Elizabeth Balsan

Anna Henry

Kelsi Klotter

Lacey Peterson

Jose Retana

Yarithza Soto

Erika Wallace

Emily Wilkinson

Grand Canyon University Athletics