Completed Event: Cross Country at George Kyte Classic on August 30, 2025 , , M: 3rd out of 13 | W: 6th out of 10
XC
at George Kyte Classic
M: 3rd out of 13 | W: 6th out of 10
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, August 31
Tucson, Ariz.
6:45 a.m.
Grand Canyon
at
Cactus Open
Balsan wins Cactus Open
8/31/2019 11:36:00 AM | Cross Country
Senior leads 31-runner field in Tucson
TUCSON, Ariz. — Grand Canyon senior Elizabeth Balsan opened the 2019 season in style, winning the Cactus Open with a course-record time of 15 minutes, 57.3 seconds and pacing a 31-runner field that included participants from GCU, Arizona and Arizona State.
"This was a good opener for us," Lopes head coach Sara Slattery said. "On the women's side, Liz had a really good day. Overall, I was pleased with what we were able to do today, and I'm excited for what we can do moving forward."
Rather than opening the season at a challenging altitude as in past years, the Lopes opted to start the season at sea level in Tucson.
"Today was a little different than the past four years," Slattery said. "We decided to change things up. Rather than taking a lot of freshmen — and even the returners — to open the season when we don't train at altitude, us coaches at GCU, Arizona and Arizona State decided to try to get all of us together."
As a team, GCU finished second behind Arizona State and ahead of host Arizona on the men's and women's sides.
Coming off a redshirt season in 2018, freshman Jacob Lewis paced GCU's men's runners and finished in fourth place with a mark of 19:03.3.
"I was very pleased with Jacob," Slattery said. "He came out and looked really strong today. He was conservative at the beginning, but he had the best close of all the guys out there. He's coming back a lot fitter and stronger than a year ago."
Behind Balsan, senior Paige Hildebrandt finished eighth with a mark of 16:12.3. Senior Erika Wallace (12th), junior McKayla Cordova (17th), sophomore Julia Schumacher (18th) and freshman Kourtney Delperdang (19th) finished in the top 20 on the women's side.
On the men's side, sophomores Chris D'Angelo (eighth) and Landon Rast (ninth) posted top-10 finishes. Sophomores Anthony Haren, Christian Fagerlin and Bryce Schmisseur and senior Matthew Anciaux made it four GCU finishers in a five-runner span, ranging from 11th to 15th.
"We had a lot of changes and the first few weeks we were really just trying to get settled," Slattery said. "The first meet is always opening their eyes and remembering they haven't raced in three months. It was good to get the race jitters out of the way and getting everybody used to pushing it hard again."
The Lopes head back to Tucson in two weeks for the Dave Murray Invitational on Sept. 13.
"This was a good opener for us," Lopes head coach Sara Slattery said. "On the women's side, Liz had a really good day. Overall, I was pleased with what we were able to do today, and I'm excited for what we can do moving forward."
Rather than opening the season at a challenging altitude as in past years, the Lopes opted to start the season at sea level in Tucson.
"Today was a little different than the past four years," Slattery said. "We decided to change things up. Rather than taking a lot of freshmen — and even the returners — to open the season when we don't train at altitude, us coaches at GCU, Arizona and Arizona State decided to try to get all of us together."
As a team, GCU finished second behind Arizona State and ahead of host Arizona on the men's and women's sides.
Coming off a redshirt season in 2018, freshman Jacob Lewis paced GCU's men's runners and finished in fourth place with a mark of 19:03.3.
"I was very pleased with Jacob," Slattery said. "He came out and looked really strong today. He was conservative at the beginning, but he had the best close of all the guys out there. He's coming back a lot fitter and stronger than a year ago."
Behind Balsan, senior Paige Hildebrandt finished eighth with a mark of 16:12.3. Senior Erika Wallace (12th), junior McKayla Cordova (17th), sophomore Julia Schumacher (18th) and freshman Kourtney Delperdang (19th) finished in the top 20 on the women's side.
On the men's side, sophomores Chris D'Angelo (eighth) and Landon Rast (ninth) posted top-10 finishes. Sophomores Anthony Haren, Christian Fagerlin and Bryce Schmisseur and senior Matthew Anciaux made it four GCU finishers in a five-runner span, ranging from 11th to 15th.
"We had a lot of changes and the first few weeks we were really just trying to get settled," Slattery said. "The first meet is always opening their eyes and remembering they haven't raced in three months. It was good to get the race jitters out of the way and getting everybody used to pushing it hard again."
The Lopes head back to Tucson in two weeks for the Dave Murray Invitational on Sept. 13.
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