Flores takes 6th at WAC meet

Saturday, October 27

Seattle, Wash.

10 a.m.

Grand Canyon

WAC Championships

10/27/2018 2:36:00 PM | Cross Country

Men's Results Women's Results

GCU men, women finish 6th at conference XC championships

By: Fletcher Like

SEATTLE – Grand Canyon senior Daniel Flores took sixth place among 62 runners at the WAC Cross Country Championships on a foggy Saturday morning in Seattle, where the GCU men and women each finished sixth.

Flores' performance earned him All-WAC first team honors and junior Elizabeth Balsan finished 11th in the women's race. Balsan's performance earned her a women's All-WAC second team selection.

In the women's 6 kilometers, Balsan led the Lopes for most of the race, finishing in 21 minutes, 20.1 seconds. Junior Paige Hildebrandt and senior Lindy Jacobson finished on each other's heels with Hildebrandt clocking in 21:47.6 and Jacobson crossing the line in 21:48.8. Erika Wallace and McKayla Cordova rounded out the top five for the Lopes.

"This is Liz's second season fully healthy," GCU head coach Sara Slattery said. "She got injured at this meet two years ago, so, it was good having her come away healthy and strong, and having her be our top finisher. I thought she ran a solid race the whole way."

In the men's 8-kilometer race, Flores led the GCU men from start to finish, crossing in 24:33.0 on the damp course. Sophomore Joseph Biehl picked runners off over the second half of the race and finished as the second GCU racer in 25:23.0. Freshman Blake Bennett and junior Matthew Anciaux finished in 25:31.5 and 25:32.6, respectively, and freshman Anthony Haren was the fifth runner to cross in a GCU singlet.

"I think that was the best cross country race I have seen Daniel run," Slattery said. "He is more of a 8-15 (800 meters-1,500 meters) guy for us and I think he beat every middle-distance runner at this cross country race. He sometimes plays it safe in cross country. He put himself in it early and ran strong the whole way, so I was really proud of his finish.

"As a whole, our team was a little under-par to our potential. The good thing is we have two weeks from now before regionals and I think we can have our best race at regionals and redeem ourselves."

The Lopes will get two weeks off from racing before heading back to Sacramento, Calif., for the NCAA West Regional on Nov. 9.