GCU heads to Colorado for clash with Air Force

The Grand Canyon men's and women's swimming and diving teams travel to Air Force in Colorado for a dual meet with the Falcons. The meet will take place in Cadet Natatorium on Friday and Saturday at 5 p.m.

The meet will be scored as one meet over the course of two days. Statistics can be found on the Meet mobile app.

Scheduled events

On Friday, the swimmers will participate in the 200-yard medley relay, men's 1-meter diving, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 butterfly, women's 3-meter diving, 100 breaststroke, 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke and the 400 freestyle relay.

Saturday's events consist of the 400 individual medley, women's 1-meter diving, 100 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, men's 3-meter diving, 100 butterfly, 1,000 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay and the platform diving events.

Scouting the teams

Air Force competed in the Rocky Mountain Invitational, which included Wyoming, Denver and LSU. The men are coming off a second-place finish with the women finishing fourth. Freshman Corbyn Cormack led the women's team with a first-place finish in the 100 butterfly (56.40) and a second-place finish in the 200 individual medley (2:06.65). The men's team was highlighted by junior Wen Zhang, who won the 500 freestyle (4:38.87) and 200 freestyle (1:37.16). The Falcons are led by head coach Rob Clayton, who is in his 23rd season at Air Force. GCU ast saw the Falcons during the regular season in October 2019. The Lopes fell 133-108 on Day 1 and 139-102 on Day 2 in Phoenix.

Arms are too strong

GCU sophomore Jack Armstrong earned WAC Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 26 after he swam a national season-best time of 19.47 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle against Seattle U in Los Angeles last weekend. The Manvel, Texas, native swam a total of four lifetime bests, in addition to breaking the season's top mark. On Day 1 against the Redhawks, Armstrong won the 50 freestyle (19:84) and 100 butterfly (47.79). He dropped nearly four seconds off his 100 freestyle best and shaved .35 seconds off his 50 freestyle record. On Day 2 in Los Angeles, he won three events and recorded this season's fastest 50 freestyle time in the nation. During the Lopes' 162-43 victory over Seattle U on Saturday, Armstrong also earned first-place finishes in the 100 freestyle (43.30) and 200 freestyle (1:38.90).

WAC Athletes of the Week

GCU sophomore Lizzy Mcknight earned WAC Diver of the Week for the second week in a row after her Saturday performance at the Lancer Diving Invite in Riverside, California. Mcknight earned two first-place finishes on the springboards at the California Baptist event that included divers from CBU, Air Force and UC San Diego.

The Kent, Washington, native tied CBU's Kiree Lowe for first place in the 1-meter event with a score of 237.75. Mcknight also won the 3-meter dive for her second NCAA zone qualifying score of 265.65, which was 20 points ahead of runner-up and GCU teammate Abigail Erickson. Mcknight landed her first WAC Diver of the Week award this season for her performance at LSU on Oct. 9, when she earned a 1-meter NCAA zone qualifying score in GCU's opener.

Alonso Carazo Barbero won WAC Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 12. The Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Spain, native led the men's team with first-place finishes against LSU in the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:34.77) and the 200 breaststroke (2:04.02). He holds the 46th-fastest time in the nation for the 200 breaststroke and 55th for the 1,000 freestyle, according to CollegeSwimming.com. Carazo Barbero rounded out his run with a second-place finish in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:51.40, nearly a second away from victory.

What's next?

The Lopes women's swimming and diving team will head to Spokane, Washington, on Nov. 12 and Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13 for back-too-back dual meets. The men and women will resume competition on Dec. 2-4 at the Miami Invitational in Oxford, Ohio.

Scheduled events

Scouting the teams

Arms are too strong

WAC Athletes of the Week

What's next?

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Armstrong

Alonso Carazo Barbero

Abigail Erickson

Lizzy Mcknight

Grand Canyon University Athletics