Confidence builds with Dave Murray results

Friday, September 30

Tucson, Ariz.

7 a.m.

Grand Canyon

Dave Murray Invitational

Riverside, CA- Sep 17, 2022: UCRiverside XC Invitational at UCR Agricultural Operations Course.

9/30/2022 11:19:00 AM | Cross Country

Men's Results Women's Results Photo Gallery

Hooten finishes 2nd with fastest run in school history

By: Josh Hauser

TUCSON, Ariz. — The Grand Canyon cross country team concluded its three-meet September schedule Friday with the women finishing in third place and the men taking fourth at the Dave Murray Invitational on Friday.

"We went out with the intention on both sides of running a controlled first half and really racing in the second half," GCU head coach Paul Limpf said. "The goal was to build confidence going into Santa Clara and conference and we definitely achieved that today."

Lopes junior Katie Hooten posted the fastest 6,000-meter run in GCU women's cross country history, clocking in at 20 minutes, 23.2 seconds. While the flat terrain of Tucson Country Club lent itself to faster times, Hooten's impressive run was also good for second place in Friday's field of runners from Arizona, Arizona State, New Mexico State and UTEP.

"Katie continued her exciting season with a second-place finish and broke the school record," Limpf said. "Behind her, we had a strong pack and are leaving Tucson with more confidence and a lot of excitement as we start heading into the championship season."

GCU sophomore Abby Scherer crossed the finish line second among Lopes runners at 21:16.1. The women's top five was rounded out by Halle Jenkins (21:28.5), Kendall Drisko (21:31.4) and Kaitlyn Kaye (21:44.2).

It was a day of personal bests on the men's side, as the Lopes finished in fourth as a team. GCU was led by sophomore Joseph Skoog with a mark of 24:13.0, which was good for fifth place in the competitive field.

"The men also followed a similar plan and ran as well as we could have hoped for, considering the effort," Limpf said. "Joseph Skoog had a huge PR and was followed again by Blake Bennett. Behind them, Christian Fagerlin, Brian Martinez and Jacob Pringle all had massive personal bests as well. We have been working hard since Riverside to keep the spread from our first to fifth runner closer and the guys did a tremendous job of that today."

After the Lopes' first finisher and fifth finisher were separated by 2:10.2 two weeks ago in Riverside, GCU tightened the pack on Friday to have its top five finish within 1:35.1.

"Overall, we leave very pleased as a group and are building the confidence up as we head into the exciting and more competitive portion of our season," Limpf said.

GCU has one final meet before the WAC Championships. The Lopes will compete in the Bronco Invitational hosted by Santa Clara on Oct. 15. The WAC Championships are set for Oct. 29 in Nacogdoches, Texas.