The main number wasn't 600 (meter open water swim), 24 (kilometer bike ride) or even 5 (kilometer run).
 
For Stephen Garr, the main number was 1.
 
In his first triathlon donning the purple of Grand Canyon University Club Triathlon, Garr led wire-to-wire at the Lake Pleasant Olympic and Sprint Triathlon in north Peoria, finishing nearly two minutes better than anyone else in the 60-person field. Meanwhile, Lopes' veteran returners Lauren Roe and Derik DeFrance each made an appearance at the postrace podium, each finishing third in the women's overall and men's overall results, respectively. Fellow returner Joshua Canode as well as newcomer Paige Muller each finished among the top five in their respective age groups as well.
 
"Stephen has shown himself to be very competitive, and displayed this throughout the race," said Lopes' Head Coach Nick Windauer. "First out the water, off the bike, and into the run, Stephen was never out of first position. He – along with our other more experienced athletes - Derik, Josh, Lauren and Lindsey Philips - were eager to set the pace of the team."
 
Garr was one of only two in the race to get out of the water in less than 10 minutes, finishing the swim in 8:25. While his lead dwindled to just 12 seconds after the cycling leg of the race, the 20-year-old hit his stride early in the finishing run, and his one hour, three minute, nine second finishing time was nearly two minutes better than the 2^nd-place finisher. Both DeFrance and Canode stayed within 10 minutes of Garr's furious pace throughout the race, finishing with times of 1:12:00 and 1:15:51, respectively.
 
On the ladies' side, the Lopes actually owned the top three spots following the swimming portion, but neither Roe, Philips or Muller held the top spot. Instead, former GCU Running Club student leader Shoshanah Stukas got out of the lake first, dashing towards the cycles with an 11-minute, 50-second time. Unfortunately, bike troubles befelled Stukas to drop her off the leaderboard, but her coach was still beaming about her determination.
 
"Shoshanah was delayed by a mechanical issue on the ride, but resolved the problem and finished strong," said Windauer. "Both she and Paige went to Lake Pleasant for their first triathlons showing dedication in training and came prepared. They finished with great pace and showed huge potential for future races."
 
Muller actually came out of the water in 6^th place among females, but steadily moved up the board from there, finishing 4^th at 1:34:38, some two minutes behind Roe, who spent last year as the Lopes' Student Co-Head Coach, and was one of the most consistently strong in the Lake Pleasant field in grabbing a 3^rd-place spot with 1:32:05. Philips was just 16 seconds behind Stukas after the swim in 2^nd place, but lost 12 minutes to the eventual women's champion on the bike, narrowly missing a top-5 finish at 1:40:38. 
 
After heading home for Fall Break next week, the Lopes will return to practice in preparation for the Anthem Holiday Classic Triathlon on Saturday, December 10 in Anthem.