Completed Event: Track and Field at Texas Relays on March 26, 2025 ,
Track & Field
at Texas Relays
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, February 24
Spokane, Wash.
Grand Canyon
at
WAC Indoor Championships
Photo by: Garrett Ohrenberg
7-year niche: GCU men win WAC Indoors again
2/25/2023 11:09:00 PM | Track and Field
Lopes run away to 7th consecutive conference men's title with 4 individual golds on Saturday
SPOKANE, Wash. — There was nothing lucky about No. 7 for Grand Canyon men's track and field at the WAC Indoor Championships.
The Lopes men left no doubt about continuing their conference reign when they captured their seventh consecutive WAC indoor title, the most consecutive championships since BYU's 1990-99 run. GCU finished with 139.5 points, well ahead of runner-up Stephen F. Austin (100) and third-place Southern Utah (99), to help head coach Tom Flood be chosen as Coach of the Year.
"That's 22 of them and each one of them is special, but especially this year, and none are taken for granted," Flood said. "Truly blessed."
The Lopes' seven-peat did not come without challenges. They entered the day trailing the lead by 1.5 points but lost a heptathlete competitor to injury for the second consecutive day. Despite Aidan Diggs and Jorg Vanlierde being out of contention, junior teammate Patrick Nelson nearly won the event with 5,304 points, just three off the lead, to score eight team points in second place.
"After the first four events, we found ourselves down by 29.5 points but then, within a span of a half-hour, our sprinters, throwers and 800-meter guys put on a show."
For GCU senior Jorden Okyere, it was a continuation of his show. Okyere, the Phoenix native, followed up his Friday victory in the shot put by winning the weight throw on Saturday with a toss of 66 feet, 4 1/2 inches.
In addition to the team scoring 13 in the weight throw, the Lopes picked up another 13 in the 60-meter dash with seniors Adam Knuff (6.70 seconds) and Kyle De Moica (6.72) finishing second and fourth, respectively.
GCU took a giant standings leap in the 400 by capturing 29 of the possible 39 event points with Lopes taking five of the top seven spots.
The GCU podium domination was led by senior Umajesty Williams of Phoenix, the Arizona transfer who won the 400 out of the outside lane in a school-record time (46.63) and had junior teammate Erin Brown (47.15) and senior teammate Calvin Wilson (47.40) following in second and third places, respectively.
The Lopes scored 16 points in the 800 by having three of the top seven finishers, including a victory by senior Max Carmona in a school-record time of 1 minute, 50.75 seconds. Carmona won his sixth conference title by coming from the back of the pack at the start of the race to fifth place at the midpoint before taking the lead in the final 10 meters of the race.
Saturday's individual races ended with another 16-point team effort in the 200, which De Moica won by pulling away in the final 50 to post a program-record time of 20.83 seconds, the 23rd-fastest time in the nation. Williams finished third in 21.31, running the race only 40 minutes after winning the 400.
"We knew we had the team title secured by the time of the final event, the 4 x 400-meter relay, but Kyle De Moica, Calvin Wilson, Bryson Benjamin and again Umajesty Williams, who were all completely exhausted, put an exclamation point on the championship with a WAC meet record performances of 3:09.52," Flood said.
GCU's second-day finish to the WAC men's indoor title was built on Day 1 success from Okyere's victory in the shot put, sophomore pole vaulters Grant Hagaman and Eric Calais-Fernandez combining for 13.5 points and senior Blake Bennett adding four points with a fifth-place finish in the 5,000.
The Lopes men left no doubt about continuing their conference reign when they captured their seventh consecutive WAC indoor title, the most consecutive championships since BYU's 1990-99 run. GCU finished with 139.5 points, well ahead of runner-up Stephen F. Austin (100) and third-place Southern Utah (99), to help head coach Tom Flood be chosen as Coach of the Year.
"That's 22 of them and each one of them is special, but especially this year, and none are taken for granted," Flood said. "Truly blessed."The Lopes' seven-peat did not come without challenges. They entered the day trailing the lead by 1.5 points but lost a heptathlete competitor to injury for the second consecutive day. Despite Aidan Diggs and Jorg Vanlierde being out of contention, junior teammate Patrick Nelson nearly won the event with 5,304 points, just three off the lead, to score eight team points in second place.
"After the first four events, we found ourselves down by 29.5 points but then, within a span of a half-hour, our sprinters, throwers and 800-meter guys put on a show."
For GCU senior Jorden Okyere, it was a continuation of his show. Okyere, the Phoenix native, followed up his Friday victory in the shot put by winning the weight throw on Saturday with a toss of 66 feet, 4 1/2 inches.
In addition to the team scoring 13 in the weight throw, the Lopes picked up another 13 in the 60-meter dash with seniors Adam Knuff (6.70 seconds) and Kyle De Moica (6.72) finishing second and fourth, respectively.
GCU took a giant standings leap in the 400 by capturing 29 of the possible 39 event points with Lopes taking five of the top seven spots.The GCU podium domination was led by senior Umajesty Williams of Phoenix, the Arizona transfer who won the 400 out of the outside lane in a school-record time (46.63) and had junior teammate Erin Brown (47.15) and senior teammate Calvin Wilson (47.40) following in second and third places, respectively.
The Lopes scored 16 points in the 800 by having three of the top seven finishers, including a victory by senior Max Carmona in a school-record time of 1 minute, 50.75 seconds. Carmona won his sixth conference title by coming from the back of the pack at the start of the race to fifth place at the midpoint before taking the lead in the final 10 meters of the race.
Saturday's individual races ended with another 16-point team effort in the 200, which De Moica won by pulling away in the final 50 to post a program-record time of 20.83 seconds, the 23rd-fastest time in the nation. Williams finished third in 21.31, running the race only 40 minutes after winning the 400."We knew we had the team title secured by the time of the final event, the 4 x 400-meter relay, but Kyle De Moica, Calvin Wilson, Bryson Benjamin and again Umajesty Williams, who were all completely exhausted, put an exclamation point on the championship with a WAC meet record performances of 3:09.52," Flood said.
GCU's second-day finish to the WAC men's indoor title was built on Day 1 success from Okyere's victory in the shot put, sophomore pole vaulters Grant Hagaman and Eric Calais-Fernandez combining for 13.5 points and senior Blake Bennett adding four points with a fifth-place finish in the 5,000.
WAC Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships final scoring |
|||
| Rank | Team | Points | |
| 1. |
 |
Grand Canyon | 139.5 |
| 2. |
 |
Stephen F. Austin | 100 |
| 3. |
 |
Southern Utah | 99 |
| 4. |
 |
Utah Valley | 93 |
| 5. |
 |
UT Arlington | 72.5 |
| 6. |
 |
Abilene Christian | 68 |
| 7. |
 |
Tarleton | 54 |
| 8. |
 |
Sam Houston | 21 |
| 9. |
 |
Seattle U | 10 |
| 10. |
 |
UT Rio Grande Valley | 5 |
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