Completed Event: Track and Field at NAU Tune Up on February 20, 2026 ,
Track & Field
at NAU Tune Up
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, February 3
USAF Academy, Colo.
Grand Canyon
at
AFA Team Challenge
Records fall at Air Force Academy
2/3/2017 9:51:00 PM | Track and Field
Colorado Spring, Colo – The Grand Canyon men's and women's track & field teams completed a Friday full of events at the Air Force Academy Team Challenge. GCU's Aaliyah Cook and Scott Marshall had record-breaking performances among several top Western Athletic Conference marks set by the Lopes.
"While we usually say we are competing in a track & field meet, I think today it is safe to say the Lopes did very well in a field & track meet," GCU head coach Tom Flood commented. "Our throwers and jumpers took full advantage of AFA's facility and came away with school records, six conference-leading performances and a handful of personal-bests."
In the high-caliber meet, the Lopes competed in the AFA Team Challenge that hosted three other conference champions in Air Force (Mountain West), Long Beach State (Big West) and Stephen F. Austin (Southland). As mentioned by Flood prior to the meet, AFA's runways proved to be some of the fastest in the country.
Aaliyah Cook tied for first with Long Beach State's Diana Acholonu in the high jump after Cook broke her own GCU record with a leap of 1.69 meters. The mark will rank second in the conference only behind NMSU's Keyaraha Wilson (1.70m).
Scott Marshall, the GCU pole vault record holder, placed second in pole vault after he broke his own program record with a vault of 5.40 meters. Marshall's mark ranks 13th in the nation among all pole vaulters as the redshirt junior continues his dominant indoor season.
Also taking advantage of the fast runways, Kayla Wilson recorded a personal-best and WAC-leading long jump of 5.98 meters to place first in the meet. Andrea Olstead placed first with a conference-leading triple jump of 11.96 meters. Olstead also finished third in the long jump with a mark of 5.68 meters to rank third in the WAC. Trista Smith placed third in pole vault with a vault of 3.75 meters. Already the conference leader in pole vault, Smith extended her mark by .25 meters over CSUB's Julianne Finch.
On the men's side, Grand Canyon's Jude Olear (15.04m), Ayodele Adeyemi (14.27m) and Ahmir Lamar (13.82m) all placed second, third and fourth, respectively, in the triple jump. Stephen F. Austin's Isaiah Pittman finished first with a jump of 15.13 meters.
At throws, Tarasue Barnett (13.46m) and Sasha-Gaye Marston (13.07m) finished first and second, respectively, in the women's shot put as Barnett's mark ranks atop the conference. Barnett (17.54m) and Marston (16.61m) also placed second and third, respectively, just behind Long Beach State's Deondra Young (19.49m) in the women's weight throw.
Grand Canyon also shined on the track as Marcus Flannigan placed first in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.87 seconds to beat out Air Force's Terrell Bradford (6.88) and Walker Newell (6.90). Flannigan also placed second in the long jump with a leap of 7.48 meters, extending his conference lead by an additional five centimeters.
Ryan Girk finished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.07. Girk's time ranks second in the conference behind Flannigan (21.86). Pierre-Louis Ricou (8.25) and William Winfield IV (8.26) now rank first and second, respectively, in the WAC after their performance in the 60-meter hurdles.
For the women, Martina Cernochova ran a personal-best and WAC-leading 7.63 seconds to place fourth in the 60-meter dash. Cernochova's time ranks just ahead of teammate Tope Williams' mark of 7.64 set at the Washington Invational on Jan. 27-28. Bailie Jones placed first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.70 as teammate Yarithza Soto finished third with a time of 2:24.14.
"We will get back to work on Monday and look forward to getting even better results at New Mexico next weekend," Flood added.
Next up, the Lopes will be back on road for the Don Kirby Invitational hosted in Albuquerque, N.M. on Feb. 10-11.
"While we usually say we are competing in a track & field meet, I think today it is safe to say the Lopes did very well in a field & track meet," GCU head coach Tom Flood commented. "Our throwers and jumpers took full advantage of AFA's facility and came away with school records, six conference-leading performances and a handful of personal-bests."
In the high-caliber meet, the Lopes competed in the AFA Team Challenge that hosted three other conference champions in Air Force (Mountain West), Long Beach State (Big West) and Stephen F. Austin (Southland). As mentioned by Flood prior to the meet, AFA's runways proved to be some of the fastest in the country.
Aaliyah Cook tied for first with Long Beach State's Diana Acholonu in the high jump after Cook broke her own GCU record with a leap of 1.69 meters. The mark will rank second in the conference only behind NMSU's Keyaraha Wilson (1.70m).
Another meet, another GCU Indoor record broken. Cook broke her own record in the high jump with a leap of 1.69 meters! #LopesRising pic.twitter.com/crwGttyjdJ
— GCU Track/XC (@GCU_TrackXC) February 4, 2017
Scott Marshall, the GCU pole vault record holder, placed second in pole vault after he broke his own program record with a vault of 5.40 meters. Marshall's mark ranks 13th in the nation among all pole vaulters as the redshirt junior continues his dominant indoor season.
Scott Marshall re-breaks the GCU indoor record with a pole vault of 5.40 meters! #LopesRising #WintheWAC pic.twitter.com/oluXRzwrTG
— GCU Track/XC (@GCU_TrackXC) February 4, 2017
Also taking advantage of the fast runways, Kayla Wilson recorded a personal-best and WAC-leading long jump of 5.98 meters to place first in the meet. Andrea Olstead placed first with a conference-leading triple jump of 11.96 meters. Olstead also finished third in the long jump with a mark of 5.68 meters to rank third in the WAC. Trista Smith placed third in pole vault with a vault of 3.75 meters. Already the conference leader in pole vault, Smith extended her mark by .25 meters over CSUB's Julianne Finch.
On the men's side, Grand Canyon's Jude Olear (15.04m), Ayodele Adeyemi (14.27m) and Ahmir Lamar (13.82m) all placed second, third and fourth, respectively, in the triple jump. Stephen F. Austin's Isaiah Pittman finished first with a jump of 15.13 meters.
At throws, Tarasue Barnett (13.46m) and Sasha-Gaye Marston (13.07m) finished first and second, respectively, in the women's shot put as Barnett's mark ranks atop the conference. Barnett (17.54m) and Marston (16.61m) also placed second and third, respectively, just behind Long Beach State's Deondra Young (19.49m) in the women's weight throw.
Grand Canyon also shined on the track as Marcus Flannigan placed first in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.87 seconds to beat out Air Force's Terrell Bradford (6.88) and Walker Newell (6.90). Flannigan also placed second in the long jump with a leap of 7.48 meters, extending his conference lead by an additional five centimeters.
Ryan Girk finished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.07. Girk's time ranks second in the conference behind Flannigan (21.86). Pierre-Louis Ricou (8.25) and William Winfield IV (8.26) now rank first and second, respectively, in the WAC after their performance in the 60-meter hurdles.
For the women, Martina Cernochova ran a personal-best and WAC-leading 7.63 seconds to place fourth in the 60-meter dash. Cernochova's time ranks just ahead of teammate Tope Williams' mark of 7.64 set at the Washington Invational on Jan. 27-28. Bailie Jones placed first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.70 as teammate Yarithza Soto finished third with a time of 2:24.14.
"We will get back to work on Monday and look forward to getting even better results at New Mexico next weekend," Flood added.
Next up, the Lopes will be back on road for the Don Kirby Invitational hosted in Albuquerque, N.M. on Feb. 10-11.
Players Mentioned
/ Track and Field
THR
/ Track and Field
SPR
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
JU/SP
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
THR
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
MUL
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
DIS
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
HU
/ Track and FieldHALF-COURTER! It had to be green in the Melo Saint Patrick’s Day jersey 🎯🔥
Tuesday, March 31
TWO grand slams. ONE game. #collegebaseball
Tuesday, March 31
GCU Baseball vs. San Diego State (Game 2) - Cameron, Sanko grand slams
Sunday, March 29
GCU Baseball vs. San Diego State (Game 1) - Highlights
Saturday, March 28