Completed Event: Track and Field at Texas Relays on March 26, 2025 ,
Track & Field
at Texas Relays
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Day 1: McDonald, Okyere start meet in style
3/19/2021 10:01:00 PM | Track and Field
Lopes begin outdoor season with some top performances
Grand Canyon track and field juniors Samaria McDonald and Jorden Okyere gave record-breaking performances Friday on the first day of the Willie Williams Classic in Tucson, where the Lopes teams are competing in their first outdoor meet since 2019.
The team will return to Roy P. Drachman Stadium on Saturday for the meet's last day of competition.
"It was really great for our athletes to finally have an outdoor competition and to have started off the meet with new school records made it even better," GCU head coach Tom Flood said.Â
In one of the day's first events, McDonald sent a bomb on her last hammer throw to top former school record holder Nyomi Mosley's 54.78-meter throw from the 2017 WAC Championships. McDonald now holds the GCU women's hammer throw record at 56.27 meters.Â
"All thanks to God, I can say that I am very pleased with my performance," McDonald said. "I definitely have more to offer, and I can't wait to show what else I can do. I am proud to say that I have left a mark in the record books."
Okyere also demonstrated power through beating his discus school record from the 2019 Desert Heat Classic. The Phoenix native threw 50.77 meters on Friday to place seventh. Okyere set four personal records during his attempts. His best throw was recorded at 59.31 meters, which put him in fifth place.
"It was a blessing to go out there and do what I love again," said Okyere. "To be able to come through with a school record during this time was very special."
Another strong performance came from senior Jesse Newman in the javelin. The outdoor WAC champion and former NCAA All-American finished second with a throw of 68.16 meters.
"It was a great way to close out the first day to see Jesse Newman open up after two years of not competing and to be over 68 meters," Flood said.Â
Other mentionable Lopes performances came from freshman Evan Dudley in the pole vault, placing second at 4.90 meters, and sophomore Jan Kral running 21.48 in the 200-meter dash for seventh place. Senior Josh Onwordi also had a good mark in the long jump today with a third-place finish at 7.42 meters.Â
"I thought our men's long jumpers, Jan Kral in the 200 meters, and our men's hammer throwers looked good," Flood said. "It was nice to see Evan Dudley attempting bars over 5 meters in the pole vault today, and having three lady Lopes at 40 meters in the javelin."
GCU senior Anaya Bailey competed in the 200, but there was a timing malfunction during the race. She received an unofficial time near 23.40, which would have put her close to the school record.Â
"We will get rested up tonight and be back at it tomorrow morning," Flood said.Â
The Lopes will start competition at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday with the men's triple jump.Â
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The team will return to Roy P. Drachman Stadium on Saturday for the meet's last day of competition.
"It was really great for our athletes to finally have an outdoor competition and to have started off the meet with new school records made it even better," GCU head coach Tom Flood said.Â
In one of the day's first events, McDonald sent a bomb on her last hammer throw to top former school record holder Nyomi Mosley's 54.78-meter throw from the 2017 WAC Championships. McDonald now holds the GCU women's hammer throw record at 56.27 meters.Â
"All thanks to God, I can say that I am very pleased with my performance," McDonald said. "I definitely have more to offer, and I can't wait to show what else I can do. I am proud to say that I have left a mark in the record books."
Okyere also demonstrated power through beating his discus school record from the 2019 Desert Heat Classic. The Phoenix native threw 50.77 meters on Friday to place seventh. Okyere set four personal records during his attempts. His best throw was recorded at 59.31 meters, which put him in fifth place.
"It was a blessing to go out there and do what I love again," said Okyere. "To be able to come through with a school record during this time was very special."
Another strong performance came from senior Jesse Newman in the javelin. The outdoor WAC champion and former NCAA All-American finished second with a throw of 68.16 meters.
"It was a great way to close out the first day to see Jesse Newman open up after two years of not competing and to be over 68 meters," Flood said.Â
Other mentionable Lopes performances came from freshman Evan Dudley in the pole vault, placing second at 4.90 meters, and sophomore Jan Kral running 21.48 in the 200-meter dash for seventh place. Senior Josh Onwordi also had a good mark in the long jump today with a third-place finish at 7.42 meters.Â
"I thought our men's long jumpers, Jan Kral in the 200 meters, and our men's hammer throwers looked good," Flood said. "It was nice to see Evan Dudley attempting bars over 5 meters in the pole vault today, and having three lady Lopes at 40 meters in the javelin."
GCU senior Anaya Bailey competed in the 200, but there was a timing malfunction during the race. She received an unofficial time near 23.40, which would have put her close to the school record.Â
"We will get rested up tonight and be back at it tomorrow morning," Flood said.Â
The Lopes will start competition at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday with the men's triple jump.Â
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