Upcoming Event: Track and Field at Silver State Invitational & Combined Event on December 4, 2025
Track & Field
at Silver State Invitational & Combined Event
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Ralph Freso
2012 indoor national champs join GCU Hall of Fame
2/25/2025 10:05:00 AM | Track and Field, Paul Coro
Lopes won Division II men's title in 2nd year of Flood's program
When the Grand Canyon indoor track and field team claimed the 2012 Division II national championship, the celebration was short-lived with the coaches and athletes needing to prepare for an outdoor season that started five days later.
But those Lopes wound up with something more prestigious — infinite glory. The team added the title of "GCU Hall of Famer" to "national champion" when it was among five new university inductees at a Saturday ceremony during Homecoming.
GCU track and field head coach Tom Flood, now in his 15th year, led a team of eight men's student-athletes with the help of three assistant coaches to the Division II NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships title in the Lopes program's second year.
"I enjoyed it maybe that night, but I hadn't done anything for the outdoor season, so I was already worried about the outdoor season right after we did it," Flood said. "It's such a grinder. I didn't enjoy the journey as much as I probably should have. In retrospect, you do enjoy it now. Through the grace of God, we put all the pieces together in our second year of existence. We still didn't have a track when we started the 2012 season and got one about halfway through it. They're the founding fathers of our program and have continued to build the success we've had since then."
Ramon Cooper, twins Eric and Vince Frawley, Aaron Hill, Dominique Hubert, Tyler Sipes and Karlin Stewart attend the induction that honored a team also featuring Kevin Lashley. Flood was joined by Todd Lehman, his 14-year associate head coach, and assistants Kim Weeldreyer and Kayla Todnem.
GCU entered the championship meet in Mankato, Minnesota, as the nation's top-ranked Division II team for four weeks and backed it up to become the Lopes' second Division II national championship team with men's soccer (1996).
"When you do track and field, you don't get the recognition of other sports, so even when we won, it wasn't a big deal to some extent," Stewart said at the Hall of Fame ceremony, where he and his teammates were supported by friends and family attending. "This is a nice pat on the back.
"Going in, we knew that we had a high chance of winning. We just had to do what we did all year. We didn't need to make it bigger than what it was. It was just another track meet. The biggest thing for us was making sure everybody did their jobs. Track is an individual sport among a team. If I do my job, he does his job and he does his job, we're all going to come out on top."
The Lopes scored 54 points to win by seven over runner-up Adams State. GCU scored 39 of those points in the long jump and triple jump. Stewart won the long jump by a centimeter over Cooper with Hill and Lashley also taking fitgh and sixth places, respectively. Lashley and Cooper placed second and third in the triple jump, respectively.
"Our jumpers dominated the meet," Flood said.
Like Stewart, Hubert claimed an individual national championship in the 60-meter dash. Sipes had won the 60-meter hurdles national title in the previous year and backed it up with the fastest preliminary time, but he was bumped at the outset of the final and scrambled to score points for GCU in sixth place.
"That was a little scary," Flood said. "We lost those points, and it got a little tighter. It was a team effort. All the pieces of the puzzle fit. God willing, we won it."
Vince and Eric Frawley took seventh and ninth places in the pole vault, respectively.
Over the past 13 years, the team has stayed connected in a group chat with photos and memories exchanged each March on the anniversary of their national championship. On the 10-year anniversary, Flood held a party for them and had them recognized at a home meet.
"Those guys were outstanding Division II athletes, but they still would have been All-Americans at the Division I level," said Flood, whose program moved to Division I in 2013.
That team laid the groundwork for the GCU program's success in Division I, where the Lopes have won 15 men's and women's indoor track and field championships and 12 men's and women's WAC outdoor track and field championships.
"At the time, it was just something we expected to do," said Stewart, an Aramark retail brand manager "When you set that goal, all you see is that finish line. But then looking back at it, we're probably the smallest team to ever win nationals. Most teams win with like 14 or 15 people, but we won with eight, so that's pretty cool.
"It's cool to see the tradition is still going. It would be different if we were good back then and then not good. But it's good to see these athletes are coming behind us and wanting to chase our records and break our records."
But those Lopes wound up with something more prestigious — infinite glory. The team added the title of "GCU Hall of Famer" to "national champion" when it was among five new university inductees at a Saturday ceremony during Homecoming.
GCU track and field head coach Tom Flood, now in his 15th year, led a team of eight men's student-athletes with the help of three assistant coaches to the Division II NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships title in the Lopes program's second year.
"I enjoyed it maybe that night, but I hadn't done anything for the outdoor season, so I was already worried about the outdoor season right after we did it," Flood said. "It's such a grinder. I didn't enjoy the journey as much as I probably should have. In retrospect, you do enjoy it now. Through the grace of God, we put all the pieces together in our second year of existence. We still didn't have a track when we started the 2012 season and got one about halfway through it. They're the founding fathers of our program and have continued to build the success we've had since then."
Ramon Cooper, twins Eric and Vince Frawley, Aaron Hill, Dominique Hubert, Tyler Sipes and Karlin Stewart attend the induction that honored a team also featuring Kevin Lashley. Flood was joined by Todd Lehman, his 14-year associate head coach, and assistants Kim Weeldreyer and Kayla Todnem.
GCU entered the championship meet in Mankato, Minnesota, as the nation's top-ranked Division II team for four weeks and backed it up to become the Lopes' second Division II national championship team with men's soccer (1996).
"When you do track and field, you don't get the recognition of other sports, so even when we won, it wasn't a big deal to some extent," Stewart said at the Hall of Fame ceremony, where he and his teammates were supported by friends and family attending. "This is a nice pat on the back."Going in, we knew that we had a high chance of winning. We just had to do what we did all year. We didn't need to make it bigger than what it was. It was just another track meet. The biggest thing for us was making sure everybody did their jobs. Track is an individual sport among a team. If I do my job, he does his job and he does his job, we're all going to come out on top."
The Lopes scored 54 points to win by seven over runner-up Adams State. GCU scored 39 of those points in the long jump and triple jump. Stewart won the long jump by a centimeter over Cooper with Hill and Lashley also taking fitgh and sixth places, respectively. Lashley and Cooper placed second and third in the triple jump, respectively.
"Our jumpers dominated the meet," Flood said.
Like Stewart, Hubert claimed an individual national championship in the 60-meter dash. Sipes had won the 60-meter hurdles national title in the previous year and backed it up with the fastest preliminary time, but he was bumped at the outset of the final and scrambled to score points for GCU in sixth place.
"That was a little scary," Flood said. "We lost those points, and it got a little tighter. It was a team effort. All the pieces of the puzzle fit. God willing, we won it."
Vince and Eric Frawley took seventh and ninth places in the pole vault, respectively.
Over the past 13 years, the team has stayed connected in a group chat with photos and memories exchanged each March on the anniversary of their national championship. On the 10-year anniversary, Flood held a party for them and had them recognized at a home meet.
"Those guys were outstanding Division II athletes, but they still would have been All-Americans at the Division I level," said Flood, whose program moved to Division I in 2013.
That team laid the groundwork for the GCU program's success in Division I, where the Lopes have won 15 men's and women's indoor track and field championships and 12 men's and women's WAC outdoor track and field championships.
"At the time, it was just something we expected to do," said Stewart, an Aramark retail brand manager "When you set that goal, all you see is that finish line. But then looking back at it, we're probably the smallest team to ever win nationals. Most teams win with like 14 or 15 people, but we won with eight, so that's pretty cool.
"It's cool to see the tradition is still going. It would be different if we were good back then and then not good. But it's good to see these athletes are coming behind us and wanting to chase our records and break our records."
GCU Men's Basketball vs. Northern Illinois - Halftime with Jamie Boggs
Wednesday, November 12
GCU Women's Basketball vs. Idaho State - Highlights
Tuesday, November 11
GCU Men's Basketball vs. Northern Illinois - Postgame with Caleb Shaw, Makaih Williams
Tuesday, November 11
GCU Men's Basketball vs. Northern Illinois - Postgame Radio with Bryce Drew
Tuesday, November 11