Upcoming Event: Track and Field at Silver State Invitational & Combined Event on December 4, 2025
Track & Field
at Silver State Invitational & Combined Event
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Thursday, May 9
Orem, Utah
Grand Canyon
vs
WAC Championships
Photo by: Derrick Tuskan/San Diego State
Lopes poised for WAC history
5/8/2019 10:00:00 AM | Track and Field
GCU tabbed as favorites to win back-to-back outdoor titles
Only one school in WAC history has won indoor men's and women's and outdoor men's and women's titles in back-to-back years.
The Grand Canyon track and field team will look to join BYU's 1991-93 and 1998-99 teams as the only other university to do it when the Lopes compete for WAC glory just 5 miles from BYU at the WAC Outdoor Championships in Orem, Utah.
The women were picked to win the team title while the men were picked to tie for first with host Utah Valley, which gives visitors a high-elevation site.
When GCU last competed in Orem in 2015, the Lopes finished second in both team standings.
Competing at altitude is familiar to the Lopes, who competed three times at Northern Arizona (6,909 feet) in January and February and twice in Albuquerque, N.M. (5,312 feet). The elevation will help sprinters, as the air is thinner, but it will be a disadvantage to the distance crew with less oxygen at the higher elevation.
GCU will bring 21 top-five WAC running marks to Utah as well as the second-ranked 400-meter relay squads. The Lopes also bring 24 top-five field event marks to the WAC Championships.
Before the WAC Indoor Championships, the Lopes had 12 conference-leading marks entering the competition. This week, the Lopes bring five WAC-leading marks and the top women's 1,600-meter relay time.
The men will lean heavily on the javelin and long jump groups, decathletes and veteran core to score points.
The Lopes have four of the top five conference-leading marks in the javelin, including defending champion and All-America second-team honoree Jesse Newman.
Three long jumpers have top-five WAC marks, including defending indoor champion Trey Johnson.
On the women's side, the pole vaulters once again bring the opportunity to score a lot of points with three Lopes seeded one through three.
The women's mid-distance core and 1,600-meter relay will also help the women score points with sophomores Knowledge Omovoh and Alexa Hokanson holding the top 400-and 800-meter times, respectively.
With the meet condensing from four competition days to three, the Lopes will have the decathlon, heptathlon and seven other events on Thursday, beginning at 10 a.m. MDT with the women's hammer and decathlon 100-meter dash.
Men's Pre-Championship Coaches Poll
Rank Team (first-place votes) Points
T1 Grand Canyon (4) 46
T1 Utah Valley (4) 46
3 UT Rio Grande Valley 36
4 Kansas City 31
T5 California Baptist 19
T5 CSU Bakersfield 19
7 Chicago State 14
8 Seattle U 13
Women's Pre-Championship Coaches Poll
Rank Team (first-place votes) Points
1 Grand Canyon (7) 63
2 NM State (2) 56
3 Utah Valley 51
4 UT Rio Grande Valley 44
5 Kansas City 34
6 California Baptist 30
7 Seattle U 19
8 CSU Bakersfield 18
9 Chicago State 9
The Grand Canyon track and field team will look to join BYU's 1991-93 and 1998-99 teams as the only other university to do it when the Lopes compete for WAC glory just 5 miles from BYU at the WAC Outdoor Championships in Orem, Utah.
The women were picked to win the team title while the men were picked to tie for first with host Utah Valley, which gives visitors a high-elevation site.
When GCU last competed in Orem in 2015, the Lopes finished second in both team standings.
Competing at altitude is familiar to the Lopes, who competed three times at Northern Arizona (6,909 feet) in January and February and twice in Albuquerque, N.M. (5,312 feet). The elevation will help sprinters, as the air is thinner, but it will be a disadvantage to the distance crew with less oxygen at the higher elevation.
GCU will bring 21 top-five WAC running marks to Utah as well as the second-ranked 400-meter relay squads. The Lopes also bring 24 top-five field event marks to the WAC Championships.
Before the WAC Indoor Championships, the Lopes had 12 conference-leading marks entering the competition. This week, the Lopes bring five WAC-leading marks and the top women's 1,600-meter relay time.
The men will lean heavily on the javelin and long jump groups, decathletes and veteran core to score points.
The Lopes have four of the top five conference-leading marks in the javelin, including defending champion and All-America second-team honoree Jesse Newman.
Three long jumpers have top-five WAC marks, including defending indoor champion Trey Johnson.
On the women's side, the pole vaulters once again bring the opportunity to score a lot of points with three Lopes seeded one through three.
The women's mid-distance core and 1,600-meter relay will also help the women score points with sophomores Knowledge Omovoh and Alexa Hokanson holding the top 400-and 800-meter times, respectively.
With the meet condensing from four competition days to three, the Lopes will have the decathlon, heptathlon and seven other events on Thursday, beginning at 10 a.m. MDT with the women's hammer and decathlon 100-meter dash.
Men's Pre-Championship Coaches Poll
Rank Team (first-place votes) Points
T1 Grand Canyon (4) 46
T1 Utah Valley (4) 46
3 UT Rio Grande Valley 36
4 Kansas City 31
T5 California Baptist 19
T5 CSU Bakersfield 19
7 Chicago State 14
8 Seattle U 13
Women's Pre-Championship Coaches Poll
Rank Team (first-place votes) Points
1 Grand Canyon (7) 63
2 NM State (2) 56
3 Utah Valley 51
4 UT Rio Grande Valley 44
5 Kansas City 34
6 California Baptist 30
7 Seattle U 19
8 CSU Bakersfield 18
9 Chicago State 9
Players Mentioned
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