Conference meet awaits in Riverside

Saturday, October 30

Riverside, Calif.

9 A.M.

Grand Canyon

WAC Championships

Photo by: Sam Kuzminski

10/29/2021 9:05:00 AM | Cross Country

Lopes motivated to put season’s hard work into action

By: Sam Kuzminski

Saturday, Oct. 30 | Riverside, Calif.

GRAND CANYON
LOPES

WAC Championships
Host: California Baptist

Men's race: 9 a.m. | Women's race: 10 a.m. | Follow GCU cross country: @GCU_TrackXC

The Grand Canyon cross country teams are entering Saturday's WAC Championships in Riverside, California, with confidence from their record-breaking performances two weeks ago at the Highland Invitational. Lopes junior Jacob Lewis snatched the 8,000-meter school record (24 minutes, 2:9 seconds), as well as redshirt freshman Braedon Palmer setting a freshman record at 24:19.6. There were also multiple personal records broken during the race.

The men will take off at 9 a.m. on Saturday, followed by the women at 10 a.m. at the UC Riverside Agricultural Operations.

On Wednesday, the WAC released the Pre-Championship Coaches' Poll, which picked the GCU men's team to finish third. California Baptist and Utah Valley are predicted to come in first and second for the men, respectively. During the 2020 WAC Championships, the men placed third with 92 points, which was the best school finish for the men yet.

At the 2020 WAC Championships, redshirt freshman Joseph Skoog won Freshman of the Year as well as placing highest for the Lopes in sixth. Lewis took 18th place for the Lopes. On the women's side, redshirt freshman Hana Hall placed on top for the Lopes in 26th place, as she competed in her first collegiate race because of COVID-19.

For the men, Lewis has had a successful season thus far, and looks to continue to lead the Lopes to victory. Not only did Lewis set the school record this season, he also finished in the top 50 out of 374 at the Roy Griak Invitational earlier this season.

Palmer has also had his sights set on high achievement from setting the freshman school record, and continuously finishing among the Lopes' top runners. Palmer finished 63rd out of 374 at the Roy Griak Invitational, and was also the fourth Lope to cross the finish line at the first meet of the year, the George Kyte Classic.

GCU junior Landon Rast has pushed his way as a force to be reckoned with among a talented group. With a strong start to the season, Rast was the top Lopes finisher at the George Kyte Invitational. Rast looks to improve upon his 23rd-place finish from the 2020 WAC Championships.

Other runners expected to do well at the championships on the men's side are redshirt freshman Cannon Angotti and seniors Blake Bennett and Reier Gilbertson.

On the women's side, Hall has been a consistent top runner for the Lopes, and this race is predicted to be no different. After setting a personal record at the Highland Invitational with a time of 21:44.8 two weeks ago, Hall continues to strive for a top finish on Saturday.

Redshirt freshman Niki Hemmerlin will compete in her first WAC Cross Country Championships. After a successful first full cross country season because of COVID-19 last season, Hemmerlin has had multiple top finishes behind Hall. Hemmerlin previously set a personal record at the Dave Murray Invitational and finished second on her team and 18th in the meet.

Also a top competitor this season is senior Ana Alvarez Tostado, as she brings the most collegiate experience to the women's young team. Alvarez Tostado has been a consistent runner for the Lopes this season, finishing within the top three of the Lopes' runners at each meet.

Expected to also bring good competition to the course is junior Kendall Drisko and redshirt freshman Halle Jenkins.

Live stats can be found here. The race will have a live-streaming option through ESPN+.