Lewis finishes on top for Lopes

Friday, September 24

Minneapolis, Minn.

10:30 A.M.

Grand Canyon

Roy Griak Invitational

9/24/2021 10:48:00 AM | Cross Country

GCU completes competition at Roy Griak Invitational

By: Sam Kuzminski

Friday, Sept. 24 | Minneapolis, Minn. | Roy Griak Invitational

Men's team

Women's team

Team finish: 11th of 21
GCU top individual: Jacob Lewis (Junior), 50th of 216

Team finish: 20th of 21
GCU top individual: Hana Hall (freshman), 91st of 234

Follow GCU cross country: @GCU_TrackXC

The Grand Canyon cross country teams competed at the Roy Griak Invitational on Friday morning, traveling 1,662 miles to race in Minneapolis for the first time.

The men's team took 11th place in a 21-team field. Junior Jacob Lewis crossed the finish line first for the Lopes with a time of 25 minutes, 40 seconds, running in the 8,000-meter race. This was Lewis' first race since placing 18th at the WAC Cross Country Championships in February and coming off a successful track season that qualifyied him for NCAA regionals.

"I am proud of the way the men ran today," GCU head coach Sara Slattery said. "Roy Griak is a huge meet and it is great preparation for conference and regionals. Jacob had his first race of the season and ran a really strong first race back.

Finishing seconds behind Lewis, redshirt freshman Cannon Angotti (25:49.3) and Braedon Palmer (25:50.5) came in 60th and 63rd place, respectively.

"Cannon set the charge for the men and helped keep our pack together," Slattery said. "We were missing some key pieces. We had a couple guys with off days and Joseph Skoog is just coming back and should close the gap by the end of the season. Overall, it was a step in the right direction for our group."

Another Lopes' pack of seniors, Blake Bennett (26:03.5) and Landon Rast (26:42.1) and true freshman Roshan Tinoco-Miranda (26:54.6), finished within the 27-minute mark. Bennett placed in 81st, Rast in 129th and Tinoco-Miranda in 146th.

The women finished 20th, as redshirt freshman Hana Hall led the team with a personal-best time of 23:03.2 in the 6,000-meter race. Hall placed 91st.

"The women's team is young," Slattery said. "Most of these women have never run in a race this size. They also missed a lot of racing last year and will improve a ton in the next six weeks. Hana led the women today. She was pretty conservative the first mile and moved up a ton and she had a lot left."

Redshirt freshman Niki Hemmerlin competed in her first collegiate 6,000-meter race and finished close behind Hall with a time of 23:34.1 in 104th place.

"Niki and Ana both impressed me," Slattery said. "Our focus the rest of the season for these women is to build off this experience and continue to improve each race."

Finishing within seconds of each other were senior Ana Alvarez Tostado (24:07.6), freshman Emma Summers (24:25.7), and redshirt freshman Halle Jenkins (24:39.8) to place in the top 184.

The Lopes have a little less than a month to continue training until they compete at the Highland Invitational in Riverside, California, on Oct. 16.