Lopeys shine on year's brightest performances

The bright lights shifted from stadiums and arenas to a stage. The purple decor of fields and courts gave way to a purple carpet in Global Credit Union Arena. Uniforms were replaced with dresses and suits.

The Lopey Awards celebrated the team and individual successes of another shining GCU Athletics year. An arena ceremony drew hundreds of student-athletes, coaches and other GCU Athletics staffers with a night where they come together, just as they did to open the academic year with the motto "We believe."

"We did not just mean our own team or our teammates or our athletics program," GCU Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs said. "It takes an entire university to win championships.

"All the people who are across campus keep our athletics program running and also keep the university running and make it such a special, special place."

GCU President Brian Mueller credited the administration, coaches, student-athletes, spirit programs and Havocs for the department-wide success.

"So many of you have a lot of options and could've gone to a lot of places, but not only have you chosen to come here, but you've performed extremely well," Mueller said. "You've performed extremely well in the classroom. So many of you are loyal to the institution and staying with us. We're very grateful for that and do not take you for granted. We will do the best we can to support your efforts."

FEMALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Gianna Gourley, soccer

Gourley repeated as the award's winner after being named to the All-America third team by United Soccer Coaches. The Las Vegas native broke her own GCU record with a 21-goal season that sent the Lopes back to the NCAA tournament. She finished her final season with 55 career goals, the most of any active Division I player in the nation. Gourley also won WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player and WAC Offensive Player of the Year.

MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Jacob Wilson, baseball

Wilson also won the award for the second consecutive year with a junior season that prompted the Oakland A's to make him the MLB Draft's No. 6 overall pick, the highest draft spot for a GCU player ever. The Thousand Oaks, California, native was a consensus All-American and a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist while earning another spot on the All-WAC first team. Wilson hit .408 with 58 RBIs in 48 games, giving him 123 RBIs in his final two Lopes seasons.

FEMALE BREAKTHROUGH STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Meghan Golden, softball

As a transfer from Northern Colorado, Golden went 14-3 in her first season in GCU's circle by posting a team-best 2.06 ERA, a WAC-high 117 strikeouts and two no-hitters.

With seven complete games for the Lopes' NCAA tournament qualifier, the Peoria (Ariz.) Centennial High School graduate was honored on the All-WAC first team last season. She pitched 2 1/3 innings of the Lopes' NCAA tournament upset of No. 2 UCLA at the Los Angeles Regional.

MALE BREAKTHROUGH STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Tyon Grant-Foster, basketball

Grant-Foster missed almost two years of college basketball following two heart surgeries before joining GCU and elevating to WAC Player of the Year on the 30-5 Lopes. The Kansas City, Kansas, native won the WAC scoring title with 19.4 points per game and also averaged 5.9 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocked shots per game. He scored at least 28 points in three of his final six games, helping GCU win an NCAA Division I tournament game for the first time against No. 15 Saint Mary's.

FEMALE FRESHMAN STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Ryan Flynn, golf

Flynn moved from Truckee, California, to GCU and became WAC Freshman of the Year while also being honored on the All-WAC first team.

In her first month of collegiate play, Flynn tied for the lowest round in program history (7 under par) at the Colonel Wollenberg Ptarmigan Ram Classic in Fort Collins, Colorado.

As a regular in the GCU lineup, Flynn continued her strong play that included a third-place finish at the Bobcat Desert Classic to help the Lopes win the Goodyear, Arizona, tournament's team crown. She finished the season with a 19th-place finish at WAC Championships.

MALE FRESHMAN STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Zach Yorke, baseball

Yorke helped GCU to its third consecutive regular-season championship as one of Collegiate Baseball's Freshman All-Americans.

The All-WAC second-team first baseman broke GCU's 25-year-old freshman record for hits (75), including eight home runs, and tied MLB great Tim Salmon's freshman RBIs record (61). He posted the team's third-best batting average at .368, which ranked 10th in the WAC, and shared the team lead for RBIs with Jacob Wilson.

For a two-month span of last season, Yorke reached base in 36 consecutive games for the longest streak by a Lope since at least 2007.

FEMALE ROLAND L. BECK SENIOR SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD

Kristin Fifield, softball

Fifield topped the nation with a season of 85 RBIs, 14 more than the second-place player, and she broke the GCU Division I-era record for career home runs (44) before returning for the 2024 season.

Fifield was named to the All-WAC and National Fastpitch Coaches Association all-region first teams while carrying a 3.93 GPA in her pursuit of a master's degree in Elementary Education.

The softball team representative for Student-Athlete Advisory Committee also won the Joe Kearney Award as the WAC's top female student-athlete.

MALE ROLAND L. BECK SENIOR SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD

Camden Gianni, volleyball

Since beginning his college career with going into cardiac arrest at his first official GCU practice, Gianni recuperated in a year away from volleyball for heart surgery and thrived in his return to the Lopes to become a standout student-athlete.

The four-time All-American honorable mention helped GCU reach the NCAA tournament for the first time last season and become a perennial top-10 program. While pursuing a master's degree in Business Administration, Gianni has been his team's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative and a volunteer for Read Across America Day and Feed My Starving Children.

THUNDER AWARDS

The awards go to an impact athlete for each GCU team. The winners are:

Dustin Crenshaw, baseball
Ray Harrison, men's basketball
Olivia Lane, women's basketball
Krista Rowan, beach volleyball
Alex Rafferty, men's cross country
Abby Scherer, women's cross country
Jorden Okyere, men's track and field
Neysia Howard, women's track and field
Gavin O'Neill, men's golf
Becca Tschetter, women's golf
Bright Nutornutsi, men's soccer
Sidney Roberts, women's soccer
Katelyn Dunckel, softball
Harper Houk, men's swimming and diving
Paula Martinez Moreno, women's swimming and diving
Gerhard Sullwald, men's tennis
Natasha Puehse, women's tennis
Camden Gianni, men's volleyball
Megan Liu, women's volleyball

L.O.P.E.S. CUP

Beach volleyball

The beach volleyball team claimed its second consecutive L.O.P.E.S. (Leadership, Ownership, Purpose, Excellence, Service) Cup. With its excellence on the courts as a repeat NCAA tournament qualifier, the Lopes devoted more than 400 hours to community service and amassed a team GPA of 3.55 while attending Lopes for Life events and other GCU teams' competitions.

TOP TEAM GPA OF THE YEAR

Women's volleyball
Men's golf

The women's volleyball team carried the top overall team grade point average for the second consecutive year while men's golf head coach Mark Mueller's squad became the new GPA champion on the men's side.

OSCAR FRAYER SPIRIT AWARD

Gabe McGlothan, basketball

The third annual Oscar Frayer Spirit Award, honoring the memory of the late GCU basketball player, went to one of Frayer's teammates, Gabe McGlothan, for carrying on his legacy with Frayer's same love for the team, GCU Athletics and the campus community. McGlothan reflects the university as a positive ambassador, embodying the Christian mission with academic and athletic achievement.

Awards were voted on by GCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and GCU Athletics administration. Performances from spring of 2023 and the fall/winter of 2023-24 were considered.

Grand Canyon University Athletics