Lopes sweep WAC Indoor titles

Thursday, February 23

Nampa, Idaho

Grand Canyon

WAC Indoor Championships

2/25/2017 6:24:00 PM | Track and Field

WAC Indoor Final Results

By: Jake Hernandez

NAMPA, Idaho – The Grand Canyon men's and women's track & field teams swept the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Championships for the second straight year. The Lopes earned 13 individual titles as the women won with a 80.5 point victory and the men ran away with a 39.5 point win.

"Today was a great day to be a member of the GCU track & field family," head coach Tom Flood commented. "While it is always a difficult task to win a championship, it is even a greater feat to defend one. I could not be more proud of all our student-athletes performances and it was truly a total team effort."

Team titles was not the only hardware the Lopes will be bring back to Phoenix; they also hauled in 13 individual championships titles as Tarasue Barnett led the pack with two. In addition to two individual medals, Barnett received the women's High Point Award and Outstanding Track Performer. On the men's side Pierre-Louis Ricou took home the High Point Award. To wrap up awards, Flood earned the men's and women's WAC Coach of the Year for the second straight year.

"I would like to thank our administration, academic counselors, strength staff and our wonderful trainers for all their support and hard work," Flood added. "We will definitely enjoy and celebrate the hard earned championships today and on our way back home. But we will be back out on the track to work harder to repeat and defend out outdoor titles as well."

The Lopes continued their dominance into the Final Day of the WAC Indoor Championships when Kayla Wilson (11.95m) and Aaliyah Cook (11.52m) placed second and sixth in the triple jump, respectively. On the men's side, a tight event resulted with Olear crowned the conference champion with a leap of 15.28m. Ayodele Adeyemi earned the bronze with a mark of 14.64m for an additional 16 points for the men's team.

At throws, Barnett once again broke a GCU Indoor record with a shot put of 15.42 meters to place first in the WAC. The junior finished nearly eight feet ahead of runner-up Martanna Stemmons (13.10m) from UMKC. Sasha-Gaye Marston followed with a third place finish with a mark of 13.04m.

In the men's pole vault, the Lopes nearly swept the award podium with five top-six finishes. Leading the way, Scott Marshall earned the title with a vault of 5.32m. Joaquin Castellanos (3rd), Pierre-louis Ricou (4th), Cody Smith (5th) and Adam Peterson (6th) followed for a total of 29 points towards the men's score.

At distance, Anna Henry got things started for the Lopes with a personal-best and new GCU Indoor record of 5:03.66 to earn bronze in the mile run. In the 800m run, Bailie Jones (2:16.79) and Yarithza Soto (2:16.81) finished first and second, respectively. On the men's side, Brandon Gonzalez took home WAC title with a time of 1:52.99. In the 3000-meter run, Samuel Proctor took silver in the men's event while Kelsi Klotter (10:11.33) earned bronze on the women's side.

Jones and Soto take gold and silver in the 800 meter! #LopesRising #WinTheWAC pic.twitter.com/sumIPIzhdU
— GCU Track/XC (@GCU_TrackXC) February 25, 2017

At sprints, the men swept for medals in the 60m hurdles with William Winfield IV, Tevin Mayfield and Anthony Phelps finished 1st-3rd, respectively, to earn the Lopes 29 points in the event. In the women's 60m dash, Martina Cernochova, Tope Williams and Jessy Eatmon placed second, third and fourth respectively. Eatmon also took the 200 meter WAC title with a time of 24.65. Ryan Girk took home the men's title with a time of 21.49. In the 400m dash, Alexandra Gilbert placed second with a time of 57.19.

Medal sweep for men's 60m hurdles! GCU earn an additional 26 pts.
1st: Winfield
2: Mayfield
3: Phelps
6: Stennis#LopesRising #WinTheWAC pic.twitter.com/MQFi7tywS4
— GCU Track/XC (@GCU_TrackXC) February 25, 2017

2017 Men's WAC Championships Standings after Day 2
Rank	Team (Points)
1	Grand Canyon (221)
2	UMKC (181.5)
3	Utah Valley (141)
4	UTRGV (65.5)
5	Seattle U (35)
6	Chicago State (9)

2017 Women's WAC Championships Standings after Day 2
Rank	Team (Points)
1	Grand Canyon (204.5)
2	UMKC (124)
3	New Mexico State (112)
4	Utah Valley (110.5)
5	Seattle U (49)
6	UTRGV (27)
7	Chicago State (18)
8	CSU Bakersfield (14)