Completed Event: Cross Country at George Kyte Classic on August 30, 2025 , , M: 3rd out of 13 | W: 6th out of 10
XC
at George Kyte Classic
M: 3rd out of 13 | W: 6th out of 10
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, September 2
Flagstaff, Ariz.
Grand Canyon
at
George Kyte Classic
Photo by: Nathan Peters
Improvement puts cross country strides ahead
8/31/2023 11:00:00 AM | Cross Country, Paul Coro
In his 2nd year at helm, Limpf sees preparation, attitude changes in Lopes
The day of reckoning for Grand Canyon cross country will not come this weekend when the Lopes toe the line for the first time this season in Flagstaff.
It was earlier this month at a Phoenix park, where the GCU runners reconvened for the first official team workout and head coach Paul Limpf put them through a tough session to find out their level of commitment by how well conditioned they remained over the summer.
"We feel leaps ahead of where we were last year," Limpf said.
That tracks with the plan Limpf laid out since becoming GCU cross country head coach last August, just four weeks before the season started.
"I felt like Wile E. Coyote running off the edge of the cliff chasing Roadrunner and looking down and going, 'Oh no,' " Limpf said. "I got my feet under me as the year went. This year, I had a full summer to prepare, set up the team, get them training, get the new kids up to par and write down our expectations and standards.
"The attitude at practice is different. The mentality at practice is different already."
The GCU women's and men's teams are coming off fifth- and sixth-place WAC Championships finishes regularly, and each team returns one scorer from the conference meet.
But as the Lopes meet in Flagstaff to set their goals before the George Kyte Classic on Saturday, Limpf is hearing talk of conference titles, national qualifications and All-America dreams like never before.
"I'm excited about both teams," Limpf said. "I think we can finish better than we did last year. Last year, we left conference disappointed and frustrated, but we're learning from those mistakes and learning where we need to make those strides. I think we're poised to make a big jump.
"The attitude is different in a good way. It's a very strong mentality."
The 12-woman GCU squad is led by junior Abby Scherer, the Ohioan who is the top returning Lopes finisher from the WAC Championships.
"She's tough," Limpf said. "She's gritty. And she wants it. She came up to me and said she wants to go to nattys (nationals) and asked, 'What do I have to do to make that move?' "
The team was bolstered with the addition of junior Gretchen Kuffel, a graduate of nearby Shadow Ridge High School who transferred to GCU after being a two-time all-conference performer at Fort Hays State.
"She's actually turned out better than I could've imagined so far, and I think she's got more potential beyond that," Limpf said. "Just by watching her run, it's like, 'Hey, I don't think you've quite reached it yet.' "
Sophomore Halle Jenkins is known to rise to big-meet moments. She and graduate Becca Taylor return from running at NCAA regionals last season and are joined by sophomore Hana Hall, who has been mired in a series of injuries in recent years.
"She looks incredible so far in workouts and we're really excited to see where she goes," Limpf said. "She's had some unfortunate luck. Man, she's flying now."
Like the women, GCU's 15 men have shown this month that they put in the summer work to raise the level of the team. Nobody likely wants that more than sophomore Cannon Angotti, who is pushing the experienced runners and bringing along the freshmen.
"If I had to write what I think is the definition of being a Lope XC guy on the men's side, it's Cannon," Limpf said. "I think he's every coach's dream. He still has thing to work on, but the biggest thing with him is maybe getting him to back off sometimes and realize you don't have to go 110% every single time because you need to save it for race day. He's realizing it now after hard discussions last year about why he was maybe running out of gas."
Angnotti returns along with sophomore Jacob Pringle, a scorer at his first WAC Championships last year, and junior Alex Rafferty, who is co-captains with Angotti.
After injuries the past two cross country seasons and a focus on mid-distance races, Rafferty might be the team's most impressive returner.
"Alex put in the work this summer," Limpf said of the straight-A student. "His workouts so far look effortless and just beautiful from a running standpoint. I'm excited to see what he does this fall and on the track in the spring."
Limpf also added San Diego Mesa transfer Devin Provence and freshmen Beckham Clements, Tristen Coyle and Noah Holden.
"There are so many guys who have had big summers that I'm excited about," Limpf said. "The cool thing about this group is it's not 15 guys fighting for seven spots. It's 15 guys pushing and helping each other for seven spots."
Throughout both teams, Limpf is seeing more of an edge and an excitement entering a season that will go to meets in Tucson and California (Riverside and Santa Clara) before WAC Championships move to Abilene, Texas, on Oct. 27.
That has been helped by assistant coach Brody Beiler, who joined Limpf last September and has been "huge" for developing the personality of the team.
"There is a little more grittiness to our team this year," Limpf said. "I think there's a bit of a chip on our shoulder. We're coming out with a 'Why not us?' attitude. Why can't we win this conference? That helps drive us a little bit more and gives us that edge to compete with those competitive teams in the conference and region. We're not going to let a name on a jersey scare us anymore."
Â
It was earlier this month at a Phoenix park, where the GCU runners reconvened for the first official team workout and head coach Paul Limpf put them through a tough session to find out their level of commitment by how well conditioned they remained over the summer."We feel leaps ahead of where we were last year," Limpf said.
That tracks with the plan Limpf laid out since becoming GCU cross country head coach last August, just four weeks before the season started.
"I felt like Wile E. Coyote running off the edge of the cliff chasing Roadrunner and looking down and going, 'Oh no,' " Limpf said. "I got my feet under me as the year went. This year, I had a full summer to prepare, set up the team, get them training, get the new kids up to par and write down our expectations and standards.
"The attitude at practice is different. The mentality at practice is different already."
The GCU women's and men's teams are coming off fifth- and sixth-place WAC Championships finishes regularly, and each team returns one scorer from the conference meet.
But as the Lopes meet in Flagstaff to set their goals before the George Kyte Classic on Saturday, Limpf is hearing talk of conference titles, national qualifications and All-America dreams like never before.
"I'm excited about both teams," Limpf said. "I think we can finish better than we did last year. Last year, we left conference disappointed and frustrated, but we're learning from those mistakes and learning where we need to make those strides. I think we're poised to make a big jump.
"The attitude is different in a good way. It's a very strong mentality."
The 12-woman GCU squad is led by junior Abby Scherer, the Ohioan who is the top returning Lopes finisher from the WAC Championships."She's tough," Limpf said. "She's gritty. And she wants it. She came up to me and said she wants to go to nattys (nationals) and asked, 'What do I have to do to make that move?' "
The team was bolstered with the addition of junior Gretchen Kuffel, a graduate of nearby Shadow Ridge High School who transferred to GCU after being a two-time all-conference performer at Fort Hays State.
"She's actually turned out better than I could've imagined so far, and I think she's got more potential beyond that," Limpf said. "Just by watching her run, it's like, 'Hey, I don't think you've quite reached it yet.' "
Sophomore Halle Jenkins is known to rise to big-meet moments. She and graduate Becca Taylor return from running at NCAA regionals last season and are joined by sophomore Hana Hall, who has been mired in a series of injuries in recent years.
"She looks incredible so far in workouts and we're really excited to see where she goes," Limpf said. "She's had some unfortunate luck. Man, she's flying now."
Like the women, GCU's 15 men have shown this month that they put in the summer work to raise the level of the team. Nobody likely wants that more than sophomore Cannon Angotti, who is pushing the experienced runners and bringing along the freshmen."If I had to write what I think is the definition of being a Lope XC guy on the men's side, it's Cannon," Limpf said. "I think he's every coach's dream. He still has thing to work on, but the biggest thing with him is maybe getting him to back off sometimes and realize you don't have to go 110% every single time because you need to save it for race day. He's realizing it now after hard discussions last year about why he was maybe running out of gas."
Angnotti returns along with sophomore Jacob Pringle, a scorer at his first WAC Championships last year, and junior Alex Rafferty, who is co-captains with Angotti.
After injuries the past two cross country seasons and a focus on mid-distance races, Rafferty might be the team's most impressive returner.
"Alex put in the work this summer," Limpf said of the straight-A student. "His workouts so far look effortless and just beautiful from a running standpoint. I'm excited to see what he does this fall and on the track in the spring."
Limpf also added San Diego Mesa transfer Devin Provence and freshmen Beckham Clements, Tristen Coyle and Noah Holden.
"There are so many guys who have had big summers that I'm excited about," Limpf said. "The cool thing about this group is it's not 15 guys fighting for seven spots. It's 15 guys pushing and helping each other for seven spots."
Throughout both teams, Limpf is seeing more of an edge and an excitement entering a season that will go to meets in Tucson and California (Riverside and Santa Clara) before WAC Championships move to Abilene, Texas, on Oct. 27.
That has been helped by assistant coach Brody Beiler, who joined Limpf last September and has been "huge" for developing the personality of the team.
"There is a little more grittiness to our team this year," Limpf said. "I think there's a bit of a chip on our shoulder. We're coming out with a 'Why not us?' attitude. Why can't we win this conference? That helps drive us a little bit more and gives us that edge to compete with those competitive teams in the conference and region. We're not going to let a name on a jersey scare us anymore."
Players Mentioned
DIS
/ Cross Country
DIS
/ Cross Country
DIS
/ Cross Country
DIS
/ Cross Country
DIS
/ Cross Country
DIS
/ Cross Country
DIS
/ Cross Country
DIS
/ Cross Country
DIS
/ Cross Country
DIS
/ Cross Country
DIS
/ Cross Country
DIS
/ Cross CountryGCU Men's Basketball vs. USC - Highlights
Sunday, October 26
GCU Men's Basketball vs. USC - Postgame Radio with Bryce Drew
Sunday, October 26
GCU Men's Basketball vs. USC - Postgame with Bryce Drew
Sunday, October 26
GCU Men's Basketball vs. USC - Postgame with Nana Owusu-Anane
Sunday, October 26