Completed Event: Women's Swimming and Diving at Oakland Golden Grizzly Classic on December 3, 2025 , , 2nd of 5
W Swimming
at Oakland Golden Grizzly Classic
2nd of 5
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Wednesday, February 23
Houston, Texas
9:30 A.M. / 7 P.M.
Grand Canyon
vs
WAC Championships
Relays, diving put Lopes 2nd after WAC Day 1
2/23/2022 10:23:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Women crowned 800 free, 200 medley relay champs; Mcknight earns bronze in 1m
HOUSTON — The Grand Canyon women's swimming and diving team sits near the top of the WAC Championships standings after the first day of competition on Wednesday. The Lopes collected three podium finishes and two relay records for a solid start to the four-day meet in Houston.
GCU ended Day 1 in second place with 103 points, trailing leader Northern Arizona's 136 points and ahead of third-place Idaho's 88 points.
"It was an eventful and exciting start of the meet for us," GCU head coach Steve Schaffer stated. "Everyone is swimming very fast and our women came away with two big relay wins that were team records as well. They raced extremely well."
In the 1-meter diving event, GCU sophomore Lizzy Mcknight made the final cut after earning a preliminary score of 249.65 points. Mcknight was the first on the podium for the Lopes after claiming the bronze with 264.40 points.
"Lizzy did great on Day 1 improving her performance in finals," Lopes head coach Hunter Shafer said. "She looked strong with some good energy. Proud of her."
Junior Abigail Erickson competed in the consolation finals, where she placed second with a score of 247.25 points to score seven team points for GCU.
Eight champions were crowned, and eight gold medals were earned as the Lopes won both relays to complete the evening session.
In the 200-yard medley relay, Briana Rittenbach, Raphaela Nakashima, Emily Muteti and Claire Banic were crowned WAC champions after posting a time of one minute 39.58 seconds. The Lopes also set a new school record, breaking the previous record of 1:40.37 that was set at the Miami Invitational in December .
The GCU 800 freestyle relay up of Maria Brunlehner, Aleksandra Wegrzynowska, Robyn Edwards and Maria Chatzi won gold after setting a school record of 7:17.68, breaking the 7:20.63 mark that was set in 2017.
After a great start on Day 1, the Lopes are looking forward to continuing competion on Thursday in Houston. Day 2 preliminaries begin at 9:30 a.m. (Phoenix time) with finals set to start at 5 p.m. (Phoenix time) each day this week.
Preliminaries will be livestreamed on wacsports.com/watch with finals set to air on ESPN+.
GCU ended Day 1 in second place with 103 points, trailing leader Northern Arizona's 136 points and ahead of third-place Idaho's 88 points.
"It was an eventful and exciting start of the meet for us," GCU head coach Steve Schaffer stated. "Everyone is swimming very fast and our women came away with two big relay wins that were team records as well. They raced extremely well."
In the 1-meter diving event, GCU sophomore Lizzy Mcknight made the final cut after earning a preliminary score of 249.65 points. Mcknight was the first on the podium for the Lopes after claiming the bronze with 264.40 points.
"Lizzy did great on Day 1 improving her performance in finals," Lopes head coach Hunter Shafer said. "She looked strong with some good energy. Proud of her."
Junior Abigail Erickson competed in the consolation finals, where she placed second with a score of 247.25 points to score seven team points for GCU.
Eight champions were crowned, and eight gold medals were earned as the Lopes won both relays to complete the evening session.
In the 200-yard medley relay, Briana Rittenbach, Raphaela Nakashima, Emily Muteti and Claire Banic were crowned WAC champions after posting a time of one minute 39.58 seconds. The Lopes also set a new school record, breaking the previous record of 1:40.37 that was set at the Miami Invitational in December .
The GCU 800 freestyle relay up of Maria Brunlehner, Aleksandra Wegrzynowska, Robyn Edwards and Maria Chatzi won gold after setting a school record of 7:17.68, breaking the 7:20.63 mark that was set in 2017.
After a great start on Day 1, the Lopes are looking forward to continuing competion on Thursday in Houston. Day 2 preliminaries begin at 9:30 a.m. (Phoenix time) with finals set to start at 5 p.m. (Phoenix time) each day this week.
Preliminaries will be livestreamed on wacsports.com/watch with finals set to air on ESPN+.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
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