GCU men race to 4th at Bronco Invitational

Saturday, October 19

Sunnyvale, Calif. / Baylands Regional Park

M - 8:45 a.m. | W - 9:30 a.m.

Grand Canyon

Bronco Invitational

Photo by: Rachel Sollazzo

10/19/2024 12:48:00 PM | Cross Country

Results

Smith, Stukas again pace Lopes; men's team posts program-best finish for event

By: Josh Hauser

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — The Grand Canyon's men's cross country team raced to a fourth-place finish among a competitive 17-team field Saturday as the regular season came to a close at the Bronco Invitational.

The GCU men's program had never finished higher than eighth place as a team at the Bronco Invitational but shattered that mark as the WAC Championships loom in two weeks.

"The men's team capitalized on their opportunity to compete against regional and some conference competition," Lopes head coach Shayla Houlihan said. "They've been training at a really high level, so to come to Bronco and capitalize on it was super special to watch unfold."

Sophomore Ethan Smith first crossed the finish for GCU for the second straight meet, posting a time of 24 minutes, 36.9 seconds in the 8,000-meter run.

Behind Smith's 17th-place individual finish, a tight Lopes grouping of junior Greyson Akers, graduate Emmanuel Corral and junior Alex Rafferty finished 27th, 29th and 30th among point scorers, respectively, with times ranging from 24:54 to 24:59.

"The men are very interchangeable at this point, and that's what we want moving into the championship portion of the season," Houlihan said. "Ethan's leadership out on the course is also huge for us right now."

Junior Mac Eliason checked in at 48th among point scorers to tally a team score of 151. GCU was behind only UC Davis, Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara, while finishing ahead of fellow WAC programs Utah Tech and Seattle U and future WCC peers Santa Clara and San Francisco.

On the women's side, senior Shoshanah Stukas finished first for the Lopes for the second straight meet. She posted a mark of 21:54.0 in the 6,000-meter race to rank 42nd among point scorers.

"Shoshanah was our rock on the women's side, as she continues to figure out this 6k distance and what she's fully capable of," Houlihan said.

Junior Hana Hall (68th) finished second among GCU women, and the Lopes' top five was rounded out by the freshman trio of Taylor Hansen (80th), Eva Johnson (81st) and Selah Akers (84th). GCU finished 14th among 19 women's teams.

"I think the women will genuinely continue to chip away at the competition and execute the races better in the future," Houlihan said. "Today was good, but I know they can do better and they want that too."

In less than two weeks, the Lopes will head to Orem, Utah, for the WAC Championships. The Nov. 1 event will be held at Lakeside Sports Park, where temperatures are expected to range from 33 to 51 degrees.