A 'vicious cycle' has a different meaning for Stephen Garr.
 
Coming in looking to defend his 2022 title, the Grand Canyon University Club Triathlon sophomore was never lower than 4^th in the overall standings during the 2023 Anthem Holiday Classic, but his final kick to come from behind fell just 17 seconds short of putting Garr at the top of the winners' podium. For the second straight year, though, Garr was one of just two participants to finish the triathlon in less than an hour with a final time of 58 minutes, 33.8 seconds. Garr led a contingent of three Lopes that finished in the race's top 15, with teammate Joshua Canode placing 6^th and Shoshanah Stukas placing 13^th.
 
With all the accolades that Garr has accomplished in his 18 months as a Lope, he was likely one of the few that was actually disappointed in his stellar performance, since his 2023 finishing time was one minute, 43 seconds slower than his 2022 pace in Anthem. The swim portion of his race gave no indication he wouldn't repeat as champion, since he got out of the water ahead of everyone with a time of 5.45.3-six seconds faster than a year ago. It was the cycling leg that did Garr in, completing that portion just under 35 minutes, but putting him over two minutes behind eventual overall champ Conrad Sanders. Garr made up a half-minute in the transition from the bike to the run, then for the second straight year was the only runner to finish that leg in under 17 minutes (16:50.4), but it wasn't quite enough to make up the ground.
 
"Stephen put together a great race on a cold and windy day," said Lopes' Head Coach Nick Windauer. "He was outpaced on the bike and had about two minutes to make up to catch the leader in the run. He caught and passed the lead runner and crossed the finish line first, but that athlete had started after Stephen in the swim - resulting in Stephen taking second by just a handful of seconds. We are super proud of the effort Stephen put in."
 
Meanwhile, while Canode's finishing time of one hour, seven minutes and 59 seconds just missed the top 5, the Lopes' junior easily won the 20-24 male age group by more than seven minutes. Stukas was within range of being the race's top female throughout the event, placing 2^nd among females in the run and 3^rd in both the swim and bike, but coming just short of the female title by 74 seconds with a second-place finishing time of 1:14:53.6.
 
"Shoshanah went through a similar race (as Stephen) - trailing by a few minutes going into the run," said Windauer. "She ultimately put in a quicker run (than the first-place runner), but it was only enough for second place. Her time was exceptional for the conditions. Josh also put together a great race against some fast athletes, winning his age group and just beating his goal of less than 20 minutes on the run."
 
Lopes' junior Andrea Loos won the Female 20-24 age group thanks to her strong finishing run, which also put her 28^th overall in the race with a time of 1:20:05.2, while Lopes' sophomore Brody Trent's first race of the season nearly garnered him a top-30 finish, missing that plateau by all of six seconds with a time of 1:21:07.6. Aidan Perales finished within a minute of Trent with a 35^th-place finish at 1:22:00.3, and Paige Muller narrowly missed the 90-minute plateau at 1:30:11.
 
With both Anthem and the holiday break now behind them, the Lopes return to practice next week to prep for their annual trip to San Diego, California – site of the always-formidable Tritonman Triathlon February 11.