Improvement marked by success

Friday, September 14

Tucson, Ariz.

4:45 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Dave Murray Invitational

9/14/2018 8:34:00 PM | Cross Country

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Lopes finish 2nd overall in men's and women's races

By: Fletcher Like

TUCSON, Ariz. – After finishing second overall at Northern Arizona two weekends ago, the Grand Canyon cross country teams finished second in the men's and women's races of the Dave Murray Invitational on Friday.

Last year, the GCU women finished third and were 30 points behind second place. This year, the Lopes finished one point behind first-place Arizona while Arizona State finished with only four racers to not figure into team scoring.

"It was a little hard to swallow to lose by one point, but I think as a group we were much better overall than a year ago," GCU head coach Sara Slattery said. "Overall, we took a big step in the right direction.

"Just some good depth overall on our team. A lot of returners had big improvements from a year ago."

In the first race of the day, senior Lindy Jacobson finished the 4-kilometer race first for the Lopes with a time of 14 minutes, 50 seconds for the second straight meet. Jacobson finished fourth overall while junior Paige Hildebrandt finished on her heels in fifth with a time of 14:54.3. GCU runners finished fourth, fifth, ninth, 12th and 16th.

"It was good to see Lindy compete well and race well over a shorter distance because, with her, the longer she goes, the better," Slattery said.

In the men's 6-kilometer race, senior Daniel Flores finished third overall and first for the Lopes with a time of 19:24.7. GCU finished second to Arizona for the second straight year in Tucson and beat third-place ASU by 39 points after narrowly securing third place last year by two points. Sophomore Angel Salazar and freshmen Blake Bennett and Anthony Haren finished ninth, 10th and 11th.

"Daniel ran really tough," Slattery said. "He was about 20 seconds ahead of a year ago in some really hot conditions, probably the hottest conditions we have had at this meet."

The Lopes will take a week off from competition before traveling to cooler weather in Sacramento, Calif., for the Capital Cross Country Challenge on Sept. 29.