Grand Canyon University Athletics
Highlighting Grand Canyon Men's Athletics in 2016
1/5/2017 9:00:00 AM | Baseball, General, Men's Basketball, Cross Country, Men's Golf, Men's Soccer, Men's Swimming and Diving, Men's Tennis, Men's Volleyball, Track and Field
The 2016 calendar year brought with it more success for Grand Canyon University Athletics. Take a look back at some of the top memories in men's athletics over the course of the year.
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BASEBALL: GCU goes 9-5 in home games entering WAC play |
| The Lopes opened the season with a split against eventual NCAA Tournament participant, Gonzaga, and defeated eventual WCC Champion Saint Mary's amid a solid start to the 2016 campaign. Headlining the home non-conference stretch included Jake Repavich throwing 7.0 innings of three-hit shutout baseball vs. Gonzaga, Krysthian Leal and Austin Bull combining to go 7-for-7 in a win over Saint Mary's, and a series win over Cal Poly with a rubber match walk-off from Thomas Lerouge. |
BASKETBALL: Russell gains national respect with 42-point effort |
| Much was made of how a No. 16 team and respected program like Louisville never travels to a mid-major. Not only did that happen, DeWayne Russell hung 42 points on one of the top defenses in the nation as GCU stayed within 10 points of the Cardinals at GCU Arena. In the video clip heard 'round the GCU world, famed coach Rick Pitino called it "the best guard performance I've seen against one of my teams since I've been coaching." Pitino went on to say "it was the toughest crowd I've ever faced" as the GCU Havocs were officially put on the national map. |
CROSS COUNTRY: Proctor races to runner-up finish at WAC Championships |
| Despite wet and sloppy conditions due to the rain in Seattle, Wash., Samuel Proctor was aggressive from the start en route to a second-place finish overall in the WAC Cross Country Championships. The junior from South Royalton, Vt., covered the men's 8,000m course in 25:06, just under three seconds behind Bryce Miller of UMKC. |
GOLF: Grand Canyon claims two fall tournament team titles |
| The Lopes men's golf program had its best showing in a fall season since transitioning to the Division I ranks. GCU won the team titles for both the Bill Ross Intercollegiate and Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate tournaments, topping the likes of Kansas State, Wichita State and UTEP along with a handful of WAC competitors including New Mexico State, UMKC and Utah Valley. In the two tournaments where GCU claimed championships, Lopes golfers also won individual titles with Jake Chanen and Matt McClung, respectively. |
SOCCER: Lopes open new stadium with victory in front of 6,402 |
| With the largest crowd ever -- by far -- to watch a college soccer game in Arizona, not a single one left disappointed as GCU flew past UCF 4-2. It was the christening of the beautiful new GCU Stadium, and Damian German, who grew up just down the street from the GCU campus, scored the first goal in the stadium's history. "I think it's an amazing feeling," German said. "Walking out of the tunnel has to be one of the greatest feelings I've had." Head coach Schellas Hyndman, in his second season at GCU, said, "It's a historic game. The first game in this beautiful stadium. I'm really proud of our guys, playing as well as they did and the efforts they gave." |
SWIMMING & DIVING:Â GCU rises to top 10 mid-major swimming program |
| With a third-place finish at the WAC Championships in Houston, Texas, the men's program finished the season as the No. 9 ranked Division I mid-major team according to CollegeSwimming.com and the No. 39 team in the country. Both marks were steady improvements over a year ago when they finished No. 11 and 49 respectively. Had the Lopes been eligible for postseason competition, they would've qualified three individuals and one relay team. |
TENNIS: Grand Canyon finishes in three-team tie for WAC title |
| The Lopes cruised through the 2016 spring tennis season with conference victories over UTRGV, New Mexico State, Chicago State and Seattle U before falling to UMKC in the final match of the conference season. With a 4-1 WAC record, the Lopes finished as WAC Champions, sharing the honor with New Mexico State and UMKC. Greg Prudhomme was named WAC Coach of the Year for his efforts leading the Lopes. |
TRACK & FIELD: GCUÂ wins both indoor and outdoor WAC titles |
| After beginning Division I participation with back-to-back runner-up finishes in the WAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, the third time was the charm for the Lopes who outscored the nearest competitor by nearly 50 points to claim the title. Once things shifted to outdoor season, Grand Canyon reiterated its dominance by winning the outdoor title also. "Both championships were total team efforts," Flood said. "Myself and my coaching staff couldn't be more proud of all their outstanding performances." |
VOLLEYBALL: Lopes split matchups with three top-15 opponents |
| Grand Canyon finished the 2016 campaign under first-year head coach Matt Werle with the best record in program history. Headlining GCU's 17 wins on the season were momentous victories over three top-15 teams, including the defending national champion Loyola-Chicago and runner-up Lewis. In the second game at No. 13 Lewis, GCU recorded a 3-0 sweep for the first win over Lewis in school history. Later in the year, Grand Canyon edged out five-set victories over No. 8 Ball State and No. 12 Loyola-Chicago in Antelope Gym. |
Players Mentioned
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