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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Wednesday, September 2
Flagstaff, Ariz. / Buffalo Park
Grand Canyon
at
George Kyte Classic
Photo by: Josh Cale
Cross country hits trail toward improvement
8/31/2026 6:17:00 PM | Cross Country
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In Houlihan's 3rd season, each GCU team positions to be in MW's upper half
By: Paul Coro
Cross country always offers more hills to climb, and this season will be no different for Grand Canyon when it begins its ascension with the season-opening George Kyte Invitational amid Flagstaff's mountain pines Wednesday.
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       Shayla Houlihan
The Lopes have been training on the trail toward the Oct. 30 Mountain West Championships with conference coaches projecting improvement in Lopes third-year head coach Shayla Houlihan's programs. With an overhauled women's roster, GCU finished one point behind fourth place among 10 teams in the conference coaches' preseason poll. The Lopes men are tabbed to hop three places to fourth place in the MW.
That optimism for the men's team stems from having six returnees back with three freshmen finding their stride.
"They all had really good summers," Houlihan said. "They get what they need to do, and they hold each other accountable all summer. They were calling each other, making sure they were getting their miles in."
GCU's hill and threshold work in recent weeks gets quickly put to the test with the annual trip to Northern Arizona's event, and both teams will compete against this month at the Sept. 19 Riverside Invitational. The Lopes men took second there to Arizona last season, when Michael Archie placed third individually as a sophomore.
Archie, GCU's highest Mountain West Championships finisher last season, is joined by a trio of returnees who are coming off strong summers in senior Tristen Coyle, who blew away his personal records in the 800 and 1,500 meters during the spring track season, as well as senior Ethan Smith and junior Jack Sindt.
           Tristen Coyle
"Having Tristen come back was huge, and the freshmen are phenomenal," Houlihan said. "They're already pushing everyone."
That Lopes freshman trio includes Vin Krueger, who became the first CIF-Southern Section champion at Oaks Christian, where Smith attended high school. The GCU incoming class of runners is rounded out by Trent Gabrielson of Loveland, Colorado, and Micah Newkirk, a Valley Christian graduate from Tempe, Arizona.
"Trent is definitely champing at the bit and is so ready to go," Houlihan said. "I have three very hungry freshmen."
The GCU women are just as anxious to make a bump from last season's 10th-place finish. That projects well with a mix of June Zimmerman and Isabella Velazquez coming off strong freshman seasons and an influx of two transfers with four freshmen.
       Meredith Richter
Omaha transfer Meredith Richter trained mostly for the 400- and 800-meter races last season but was a standout 3,200 runner at her Wisconsin high school.
"Meredith has a lot of potential," Houlihan said. "I think she is going to make more of an impact at the end of the season because I'm having to build up her mileage. I'm going to do it in a safe way and not get her hurt."
The GCU women's other transfer, Avanti Wadhwa, is making a homecoming after growing up in Laveen and graduating from Arizona Lutheran. She ran for MSU Denver last season but has a long relationship with Houlihan, who was her counselor at former GCU head coach Sara Slattery's camp when Wadhwa was in high school.
"I watched her from that first year to the second year and thought, 'Oh, this girl is competitive,' " Houlihan said. "She was one of our top campers. I know she has potential. She needed to make a big jump out of high school, and she did last year. "
But Houlihan said any freshman could make an impact too with a breakthrough race after a strong summer. Lily Waite, who attended the same Orem, Utah, school as Zimmerman, has shown off her summer work with her early form and "is ready to rock and roll," Houlihan said.
Zimmerman had trained lightly last year because of an injury past. Houlihan had cut her mileage in half, knowing it would have a short-term results effort in exchange for health longevity.
"I thought it was important to continue to work on bone density and getting stronger in the weight room to sustain a workload over a long duration of time," Houlihan said. "Now, she's super strong, pushing it and asking to do more."
Velazquez, her classmate and also a former Slattery camper, appears to be the most improved runner on team after a spring of steeplechase improvements.
"After cross country season last year, she wasn't happy with how she performed," Houlihan said. "She went home in December and came back in January as a different version of herself."
The Wednesday race at about 7,000-foot elevation is a taste of how the season will finish at Mountain West Championships in Reno, Nevada, which sits at about 4,500 feet.
"I do enjoy starting that way so they know ahead of time what it feels like," Houlihan said. "It feels a little bit harder, and you just have to work through it."
