Connor Fitzharris had every excuse to keep his head down and keep moving in the first triathlon of his life.
 
He stopped to help instead.
 
The Grand Canyon University Club Triathlon freshman paused during Saturday's season-opening Castle Creek Triathlon at Lake Pleasant to help teammate Addison Gustin sort out mechanical trouble with her bike and assist an athlete from another school in the first transition area. Fitzharris then got back on course and placed 14^th among the 24 men in the Mountain Collegiate Conference race at one hour, 26 minutes, one second, while Lopes' Co-Student Leader Nicole Smith led the GCU women by finishing 6^th for her second consecutive top 10 showing at the lake. Even with stopping, Fitzharris – despite it being his first-ever triathlon.
 
"He really showed what it means to serve others and be Christ-like," said Smith. "It was also his and Addison's first triathlons, so I'm super impressed with their performances. Everyone did phenomenal."
 
Even with the detour, Fitzharris made his time count once he was rolling. His bike leg of 40 minutes, 59 seconds was the 10^th-fastest among the 38 athletes in the conference race and the centerpiece of a debut that made him the first Lope across the line.
 
Not far behind was Smith, who was the newcomer making noise at this race a year ago when she placed 5^th among women in her first college event. She came out of the water this time in 16 minutes, 12 seconds, which was 3^rd-best among women and shaved one minute, 13 seconds off her swim from last October. Smith then turned in the quickest first transition of any woman (47 seconds) and closed with a run of 21:38 that was the 2^nd-fastest among women. Her final time of one hour, 33 minutes, 16 seconds put her 6^th of 14 women and 25^th overall.
 
Fewer than eight seconds separated the Lopes' other two men. Cole Brunson took 20^th at 1:34:44 behind a bike leg of 47:13 and a run of 22:56, while Elijah Alexander followed in 21^st at 1:34:52. Alexander swam 19:32 and then covered the 5K run in 20:40, which was the 13^th-fastest run in the field.
 
Gustin, a former collegiate swimmer (George Fox University in Oregon), looked right at home in the opening leg of her first triathlon. Her swim of 16 minutes, 50 seconds put her ahead of more than half of the field, and she worked through the bike trouble to finish 13^th among women at one hour, 56 minutes, 16 seconds.
 
The Lopes get five weeks to build on their opener before returning to competition at the Sun Devil Classic in Tempe on Sunday, November 8.

The complete Lopes' results are below:

NAME	TIME	DIVISION	AGE GROUP FINISH	OVERALL FINISH
Connor Fitzharris	1:26:01	Mountain Collegiate Conference Male	14th	18th
Nicole Smith	1:33:16	Mountain Collegiate Conference Female	6th	25th
Cole Brunson	1:34:44	Mountain Collegiate Conference Male	20th	27th
Elijah Alexander	1:34:52	Mountain Collegiate Conference Male	21st	28th
Addison Gustin	1:56:16	Mountain Collegiate Conference Female	13th	35th