Triton Invite awaits Lopes

With three weeks of the regular season remaining for outdoor track and field, the Lopes are gearing up for the first of three consecutive trips to the Golden State, beginning the successive trips in San Diego. The Lopes compete April 13-14 on the campus of UC San Diego.

"I am really excited to have our full team together again for the first time in the several weeks," head coach Tom Flood said. "It will be good to see a lot of athletes compete."

The Lopes set 12 personal records last week in New Mexico and will look to continue the trend of getting better this week as the season winds down.

Although Kayla Finnegan (Wilson) and Marcus Flannigan did not set personal records last week, they still earned WAC Athlete of the Week honors for their performances in the long jump. Finnegan jumped 6.11 meters in Albuquerque while Flannigan jumped 7.61 meters. Finnegan has now jumped 6.11 meters or further in two consecutive meets, the first time she has done that as a Lope.

The Lopes currently hold the top times in all three men's sprints. With Ryan Girk and Guillermo Alcala Rendon holding the top two spots in the 100 meter and 200 meter with Marcus Flannigan holding the third spot in the 200. Isaac Allanarem holds the top spot in the men's 400 meter after breaking the school record earlier this season.

"This is a big meet with a lot of athletes competing, so we should have pretty good competition this weekend," Flood said.

Freshman Alexa Hokanson is just one second off the school record 800 meter time held by Yarithza Soto. Hokanson ran the 400 at the WAC Indoor Championships in February and finished fifth overall, she currently ranks fifth in the 400 and second in the 800 in the WAC.

Soto is not far behind Hokanson this season based on time. The sophomore finished 0.80 seconds behind the freshman at the Aztec Invite the last time the Lopes were in San Diego.

Another freshman that burst onto the scene recently is Naudia Dawson. The sprinter holds the top time in the 100 this season at 11.99 seconds and currently sits sixth in the conference.

Alyson Schwartz is progressing nicely as well. The freshman pole vaulter competed in the pentathlon at the WAC Indoor Championships in February and jumped 3.92 meters in New Mexico last weekend. Schwartz sits in second in the WAC behind senior Jennifer Johnson (Rolph) who jumped 3.97 meters in San Diego earlier this year.

"Our coaches and athletes are really looking forward to this weekend," Flood said. "This is another step in the process as we continue to prepare for conference and the NCAA Championships."

Four school records have fallen this year, two on the track and two in the field. Allanarem set the school record with his 49.60 in the 400, Mariah Montoya broke the 5,000 meter time at 17:18.93, Jesse Newman set the javelin record at 63.25 meters and Josh Hamberlin broke the hammer record with his 61.25 meter throw.

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Players Mentioned

Guillermo Alcala Rendon

Isaac Allanarem

Naudia Dawson

Kayla Finnegan (Wilson)

Marcus Flannigan

Ryan Girk

Josh Hamberlin

Alexa Hokanson

Jennifer Johnson (Rolph)

Mariah Montoya

Jesse Newman

Alyson Schwartz

Yarithza Soto

Grand Canyon University Athletics