Okyere breaks 2 more records

Friday, February 7

Albuquerque, N.M.

4 p.m.

Grand Canyon

New Mexico Collegiate Classic

Photo by: Elizabeth Tinajero

2/8/2020 5:09:00 PM | Track and Field

4 GCU records fall in Albuquerque

By: Makenna Pellerin

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sophomore thrower Jorden Okyere broke two more school records, which brings him to four this indoor season as junior teammates Alexa Hokanson and Alyson Schwartz also broke GCU records on Saturday at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic.

Okyere threw 18.03 meters in the weight throw, which broke his record of 17.49 meters. He also broke sophomore teammate Moataz Hassan's shot put record (16.51 meters) from the Northern Arizona Mountain T's Invite. With his new GCU records, Okyere is second in the WAC for shot put and weight throw.

"It was an amazing meet, and the best part is there is a lot of room for improvement," Okyere said. "I'm excited to keep grinding."

Hokanson, a junior sprinter, broke her 600-meter GCU record of 1 minute 34.53 seconds with her 1:34.04 run in Albuquerque.

"Today, we finished the two-day meet with another pair of fantastic performances and school records from Alyson Schwartz in the women's pole vault (4.14 meters) and again from Jorden Okyere, but this time in the men's shot put (16.76 meters)," Lopes head coach Tom Flood said.

Schwartz beat junior teammate Madelyn Lundberg's GCU record of 4.07 meters set in 2019 at the NAU Tune Up meet. She took over the top spot in WAC with Lundberg and Megan Fry in second and third.

Junior sprinter Ivan Zaharchenko placed fifth in the men's 200-meter race, clocking in at 21.96 seconds, and another junior sprinter David Kolar took sixth place in the men's 60-meter finals with a time of 6.91 seconds.

"We are beginning to position ourselves to make a lot of noise at the WAC Championships in several weeks as long as we stay healthy and strive to get better each week," Flood said.

The Lopes return to Albuquerque next weekend for the Don Kirby Elite Invitational.