Okyere breaks 4th record of year

Thursday, February 13

Albuquerque, N.M.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Don Kirby Elite Invitational

2/14/2020 8:24:00 PM | Track and Field

Lopes impress in Albuquerque competition

By: Makenna Pellerin

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Grand Canyon sophomore thrower Jorden Okyere broke his fourth GCU record of the season at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational on Friday in Albuquerque.

"This was our last full team meet before the WAC Indoor Championships and I think we have again positioned ourselves to compete for a couple of team titles in a couple weeks at conference," Lopes head coach Tom Flood said.

Okyere broke the GCU record for shot put for the second week in a row. His throw landed at 17.00 meters, which put him second in the WAC this season. His previous record was 16.76 meters.

"I was also impressed with both Rylan Stubbs' and Paige Hildebrandt's times in the mile," Flood said. "Rylan's time of 4:16.11 (altitude adjusted to 4:10.53) and Paige's time of 5:02.86 (altitude adjusted to 4:56.27) are the fastest times in the WAC this season and surpass our existing school records for the mile..But, unfortunately, neither time will be recognized as our school record is based on actual run times."

The women's mile record to beat is 4:56.73, set by Hildebrandt, at the 2019 WAC Indoor Championships, while the men's record is 4:11.35, set by Jacob Lewis earlier this season at the Houston Invitational.

"The majority of both teams will rest this next weekend to prepare for conference, but we will send a small contingent of athletes up to NAU on Friday to stay sharp or provide some athletes one last time to compete indoor and one last opportunity to make our conference teams," Flood said.