Completed Event: Track and Field at Texas Relays on March 26, 2025 ,
Track & Field
at Texas Relays
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Wednesday, June 5
Eugene, Ore.
Grand Canyon
vs
NCAA Championships
Photo by: Nathan Peters
Lopes set to make program history at NCAA Championships
6/4/2024 5:37:00 PM | Track and Field
Tow, Hodge, Oloyede, Archer to compete Wednesday, Thursday in Oregon
The Grand Canyon track and field team is set to make history when its largest group ever competes at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships beginning on Wednesday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
GCU graduate student pole vaulter Jack Hodge and graduate student men's hammer thrower Israel Oloyede earned their way to the NCAA Championships by placing in the top 12 of their events at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Hodge, a native of Valley, Nebraska, vaulted 5.32 meters (17 feet, 5 ½ inches) to tie for the 10th spot in the West. Hodge recorded a personal best in March with a vault of 5.5 meters (18 feet, 1/2 inch) at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin. That is tied for the 17th-best mark of the season nationally.
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Oloye
de threw 69.38 meters (227 feet, 7 inches) to take sixth at the regional and has thrown as far as 74.84 meters (245 feet, 6 inches) this season, when he placed third at the Mt. SAC Relays in California.
Oloyede, the WAC champion in the hammer throw,has been among the best hammer throwers in the nation in recent years, making his mark in 2022 with the nation's best collegiate throw (75.1 meters, 246-5) to take fifth at the USA Track and Field Championships. He also had the indoor season's best weight throw that season. In 2021, he took 13th nationally in the hammer throw for Arizona.
Graduate student Joanna Archer arrived to the NCAA Championships thanks to two great races at the regional.
In the first round, Archer finished 19th to land a spot in the Saturday quarterfinals, where she ran a personal-best time of 2 minutes, 3.52 seconds to finish eighth with 12 runners advancing. Archer has been performing well all season and appears to be continuing that pattern after winning the 800-meter race at the WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.Â
GCUÂ j
unior decathlete Casey Tow will be competing after claiming the 24th and final spot. Tow, a Sweet Home, Oregon native, grew up just less than a one-hour drive from Hayward Field. Tow last competed in the WAC Championships since there is no regional decathlon.
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The four GCU athletes will make history with three Lopes previously being the most to attend a single NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
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The meet will run from Wednesday to Saturday.
GCU will first be represented by Tow in the first decathlon event, which will be the 100-meter dash at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Oloyede competes at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the hammer finals. At 5 p.m. Wednesday, Hodge will compete in the pole vault finals.
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Archer will run in the 800-meter preliminaries at 7:14 p.m. on Thursday with the top two of each heat and the next three best times advancing to the Saturday finals at 3:44 p.m.
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The decathlon will wrap up Thursday with the 1,500-meter run taking place at 7:56 p.m.
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Live results and start lists can be found here. Â
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The different events can be found here.Â
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GCU graduate student pole vaulter Jack Hodge and graduate student men's hammer thrower Israel Oloyede earned their way to the NCAA Championships by placing in the top 12 of their events at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Hodge, a native of Valley, Nebraska, vaulted 5.32 meters (17 feet, 5 ½ inches) to tie for the 10th spot in the West. Hodge recorded a personal best in March with a vault of 5.5 meters (18 feet, 1/2 inch) at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin. That is tied for the 17th-best mark of the season nationally.
Â
Oloye
de threw 69.38 meters (227 feet, 7 inches) to take sixth at the regional and has thrown as far as 74.84 meters (245 feet, 6 inches) this season, when he placed third at the Mt. SAC Relays in California.Oloyede, the WAC champion in the hammer throw,has been among the best hammer throwers in the nation in recent years, making his mark in 2022 with the nation's best collegiate throw (75.1 meters, 246-5) to take fifth at the USA Track and Field Championships. He also had the indoor season's best weight throw that season. In 2021, he took 13th nationally in the hammer throw for Arizona.
Graduate student Joanna Archer arrived to the NCAA Championships thanks to two great races at the regional.
In the first round, Archer finished 19th to land a spot in the Saturday quarterfinals, where she ran a personal-best time of 2 minutes, 3.52 seconds to finish eighth with 12 runners advancing. Archer has been performing well all season and appears to be continuing that pattern after winning the 800-meter race at the WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.Â
GCUÂ j
unior decathlete Casey Tow will be competing after claiming the 24th and final spot. Tow, a Sweet Home, Oregon native, grew up just less than a one-hour drive from Hayward Field. Tow last competed in the WAC Championships since there is no regional decathlon.Â
The four GCU athletes will make history with three Lopes previously being the most to attend a single NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Â
The meet will run from Wednesday to Saturday.
GCU will first be represented by Tow in the first decathlon event, which will be the 100-meter dash at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Oloyede competes at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the hammer finals. At 5 p.m. Wednesday, Hodge will compete in the pole vault finals.
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Archer will run in the 800-meter preliminaries at 7:14 p.m. on Thursday with the top two of each heat and the next three best times advancing to the Saturday finals at 3:44 p.m.
Â
The decathlon will wrap up Thursday with the 1,500-meter run taking place at 7:56 p.m.
Â
Live results and start lists can be found here. Â
Â
The different events can be found here.Â
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Players Mentioned
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