Three school records crumble

Friday, April 13

La Jolla, Calif.

ALL DAY

Grand Canyon

Triton Invitational

Photo by: Loren Orr

4/14/2018 7:24:00 PM | Track and Field

Lopes win seven events at Triton Invite

By: Fletcher Like

SAN DIEGO – After school records had been safe for the past few weeks, three GCU records fell on the second day of the Triton Invite on Saturday. Paige Hildebrandt broke the 1,500-meter record, Mariah Montoya broke the school record in the 5,000 meter and Jesse Newman broke his own javelin school record that he had set earlier this season.

"I thought that today, across the board and in all events, this was our best meet we've had this year," head coach Tom Flood said. "In a lot of events today we took advantage of some nice conditions and set a couple of school records and a handful of other marks that will position us well in the West Region as well as in the WAC."

Hildebrandt, the school record holder in the indoor 3,000-meter run, now holds the outdoor 1,500 record after running a 4:35.00. The previous record was 4:36.15.

Montoya broke her own record in the 5,000 meter, besting her previous mark she had set earlier this year by over seven seconds with her 17:11.72 time.

Newman, had held the past two school records in the javelin and broke his own record again with a 64.93-meter throw.

Anthony Phelps came seven hundredths of a second from breaking the school record in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing first overall at the meet with his 51.68 time.

"Paige, Mariah, Jesse and Anthony had great days; I am happy for them," Flood said. "I am also pleased with our men's 4x100-meter relay, Ryan Girk, William Winfield IV, Yarithza Soto, Daniel Flores and Sarah Root."

The men's 4x100 team won the meet, along with the women's 4x100 team. The men's relay, led off by Dionee Marrero and anchored by Guillermo Alcala Rendon, ran a 40.44. The women's team, started by Briana Myers and anchored by Tope Williams, ran a 47.09.

Girk won the 100 meter with his 10.49, tying a personal record. Girk also won the 200 meter with a 20.99 time.

At one time, the Lopes male sprinters had won four consecutive heats in the 100m meter and went on to have four finishers in the top eight of the meet.

Soto ran a solid 800-meter race with a 2:13.35 time in the grueling mid-distance race. Her time is five hundredths of a second off the school record held by the sophomore.

Flores ran a solid 1:52.03 in the men's 800. His time ranks third all-time at GCU in his first year as a Lope.

Winfield finished third overall in the 110-meter hurdles, crossing the line in 14.30 seconds. His time sits second all-time at GCU in the event.

Root jumped well in the long jump, finishing tied for third with her 5.95-meter jump. She also had a nice day in the 100-meter hurdles, crossing in a time of 14.21, good enough for ninth overall.

In total, the Lopes won seven events, set three school records and set multiple personal records as the team inches closer to the WAC Championships in Lawrence, Kansas in May and the NCAA West Region Championships a few weeks later.

"Next week are taking a team record 39 athletes to the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays to run, jump and throw against some of the top collegiate athletes in the nation and the world," Flood said. "We will look again to have many outstanding performances and get even better."