Lopes improve at NCAA West Regionals

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Grand Canyon sent runners to take on the men's 10,000-kilometer at this year's NCAA West Regionals.

The Lopes improved from last year's regional performance, finishing 19th out of 30 teams.

"The men showed tremendous fight today in the 10k," GCU head coach Shayla Houlihan said. "Though we didn't finish where we hoped, losing two of our usual top scorers early on tested our resilience."

Lopes junior Ethan Smith was the team's top finisher, running the course in 30 minutes and 59.8 seconds to secure a 77th-place finish out of more than 200 runners. This is the second year in a row that Smith has been GCU's top finisher at regionals.

With this finish, Smith also moves up in the GCU record book for the 10k with the seventh-best time in program history.

Lopes senior Greyson Akers and sophomore Michael Archie were the next top finishers for GCU, completing the course in tandem. Akers ran it in 31:12.5 for 90th, and Archie finished it in 31:12.9 for 91st.

These times broke GCU's top-10 list as well as the eighth- and ninth-fastest 10k times.

Behind Archie was Lopes junior Tristen Coyle (32:03.5, 132nd) and graduate Alex Rafferty (32:31.4, 159th).

With this meet, the GCU cross country season has concluded. An all-time best campaign for the men included finishing top three in every regular-season meet.

"Our depth kept us competitive and helped us improve on last year's finish despite unexpected setbacks," Houlihan said. "This young team has a bright future, and we're eager to recharge briefly before heading into indoor track season."

The Lopes' indoor track and field scheudle starts Dec. 4 at the Silver State Invitational in Nevada.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Greyson Akers

Michael Archie

Tristen Coyle

Alex Rafferty

Ethan Smith

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