Upcoming Event: Cross Country at George Kyte Classic on September 2, 2026
XC
at George Kyte Classic
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, September 3
Flagstaff, Ariz.
1:30 p.m.
Grand Canyon
at
George Kyte Classic
Photo by: Sam Kuzminski
Coach matches runners' energy for XC season
8/31/2022 9:30:00 AM | Cross Country, Paul Coro
Limpf leads GCU men, women into Saturday's opening meet in Flagstaff
If there is any team that is equipped to hit the ground running, it is Grand Canyon cross country.
Within a month of taking over the program as head coach, Paul Limpf is picking up the pace to quickly lead his Lopes into their first meet on Saturday in Flagstaff, Arizona.
After burning to coach again after a one-year career redirect, Limpf will be just as energized as his runners for the George Kyte Classic season opener.
"I just missed coaching," said Limpf, who continued fulfilling work in care and management for the special-needs community in Utah. "It was massive. I love it. In this first few days alone, the team's excitement and that atmosphere, that's the stuff that I missed. Come Saturday, when they are getting ready to toe the line, I'm sure I'll have my throat in my stomach because I'm nervous and excited at the same time. It's going to be that feeling that I've been waiting for. I'm excited and absolutely amped to get things going."
Limpf is opening the season with goals of being among the WAC's top three or four teams this season, but that could be a moving target as competition unfolds.
The GCU men's team is coming off its best season, taking third at WAC Championships and finishing 16th in the region, while the women have been hit by offseason injuries after a seventh-place conference finish last year.
The Lopes men's contingent is led by graduate Blake Bennett, who took 15th at conference last year, and sophomore Joseph Skoog, who was 65th at regionals last year in his first 10,000-meter race. After a standout freshman season, Cannon Angotti will redshirt this season, but Limpf has been encouraged about the commitment and communication of his team's offseason from the time he was hired.
"Now that we're all together, there is that motivation and excitement for everyone," Limpf said. "That's going to help both teams. It's not football where you lose in Week 1, there's no championship for you. A lot of teams are feeling out how the summer went and these first races are rust-busters."
The women's team features sisters-in-law Brooke Skoog-Wallace, a junior, and Anna Skoog, a redshirt freshman, along with junior Stefana Purkovic and sophomore Halle Jenkins. Sophomore Hana Hall and senior Kendall Drisko are the returnees with the team's best WAC Championships finishes last year.
"I want to build that thing that feels like a family and student-athletes can look back and say, 'Man, that was a heck of a ride. That was five incredible years, and now I've got a brilliant future in front of me because I was able to get a college degree and I learned so many things in the classroom and the track as well,' " Limpf said.
Limpf spent seven years as an assistant coach in the nationally competitive distance program at Southern Utah, where he and 31-year head coach Eric Houle guided 10 All-Americans, four teams that won conference championships and seven teams that qualified for the NCAA Championships.
But, to Limpf, the victories do not always come with medals and trophies.
"I want to be a person the athletes can look up to and say, 'This person is always there for me,' " Limpf said. "I want to build a team to be successful, but realize that success doesn't mean that we have to win everything. It means just being better than the day before the year before and constantly giving our best. If we go out and give our best and Cal Baptist is better that day, our hats off to them and then we're just going to go back and work as hard as we can to get them next time."
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Within a month of taking over the program as head coach, Paul Limpf is picking up the pace to quickly lead his Lopes into their first meet on Saturday in Flagstaff, Arizona.
After burning to coach again after a one-year career redirect, Limpf will be just as energized as his runners for the George Kyte Classic season opener.
"I just missed coaching," said Limpf, who continued fulfilling work in care and management for the special-needs community in Utah. "It was massive. I love it. In this first few days alone, the team's excitement and that atmosphere, that's the stuff that I missed. Come Saturday, when they are getting ready to toe the line, I'm sure I'll have my throat in my stomach because I'm nervous and excited at the same time. It's going to be that feeling that I've been waiting for. I'm excited and absolutely amped to get things going."Limpf is opening the season with goals of being among the WAC's top three or four teams this season, but that could be a moving target as competition unfolds.
The GCU men's team is coming off its best season, taking third at WAC Championships and finishing 16th in the region, while the women have been hit by offseason injuries after a seventh-place conference finish last year.
The Lopes men's contingent is led by graduate Blake Bennett, who took 15th at conference last year, and sophomore Joseph Skoog, who was 65th at regionals last year in his first 10,000-meter race. After a standout freshman season, Cannon Angotti will redshirt this season, but Limpf has been encouraged about the commitment and communication of his team's offseason from the time he was hired.
"Now that we're all together, there is that motivation and excitement for everyone," Limpf said. "That's going to help both teams. It's not football where you lose in Week 1, there's no championship for you. A lot of teams are feeling out how the summer went and these first races are rust-busters."
The women's team features sisters-in-law Brooke Skoog-Wallace, a junior, and Anna Skoog, a redshirt freshman, along with junior Stefana Purkovic and sophomore Halle Jenkins. Sophomore Hana Hall and senior Kendall Drisko are the returnees with the team's best WAC Championships finishes last year."I want to build that thing that feels like a family and student-athletes can look back and say, 'Man, that was a heck of a ride. That was five incredible years, and now I've got a brilliant future in front of me because I was able to get a college degree and I learned so many things in the classroom and the track as well,' " Limpf said.
Limpf spent seven years as an assistant coach in the nationally competitive distance program at Southern Utah, where he and 31-year head coach Eric Houle guided 10 All-Americans, four teams that won conference championships and seven teams that qualified for the NCAA Championships.
But, to Limpf, the victories do not always come with medals and trophies.
"I want to be a person the athletes can look up to and say, 'This person is always there for me,' " Limpf said. "I want to build a team to be successful, but realize that success doesn't mean that we have to win everything. It means just being better than the day before the year before and constantly giving our best. If we go out and give our best and Cal Baptist is better that day, our hats off to them and then we're just going to go back and work as hard as we can to get them next time."
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Players Mentioned
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