Capitalizing on phenomenal weather and a supportive team atmosphere, the Grand Canyon University Club Track & Field team tallied 39 personal records at Glendale Community College' Gaucho Indoor Meet in Glendale. These groundbreaking performances added to the team's growing list of national accolades, with the Lopes now holding six top marks on the National Intercollegiate Running Club Association ranking list.

"We had phenomenal weather over the weekend that made for a perfect setting to perform well," said Lopes' Head Coach Todd Lehman. "It was great to see this team rally around each other with support, love, and encouragement all weekend."
 
GCU's Lauren Metcalf highlighted the weekend by re-taking the national lead in the 60m hurdles with a winning time of 9.14 seconds. Despite coming off a week of illness, Metcalf delivered two PRs in the hurdles and two more in the 60m dash.
 
"Little did (Lauren) know that after PR'ing in the prelims, she would run so well that she would have to run the finals in both," said Lopes' Assistant Coach Aidan Diggs. "She ran incredible in the hurdles and is only going to get faster."
 
In the distance events, Lopes' sophomores Siena Burns and Joshua Nicholson secured victories with tactical precision. Burns won the Women's 800m in 2:17.04, a massive 3.5-second personal best.
 
"Siena showed some grit this weekend, opening up with 300 to go and making her move," said Lopes' Assistant Coach Kellie Stroupe. "She has some big goals that she's chasing and it's exciting to see her take the steps to achieve them."
 
Nicholson controlled the Men's Mile from the gun, winning in 4:23.42.
 
"It's hard front running—being chased isn't the easiest," Stroupe noted. "He stayed strong and composed. I have no doubt we can get him under 4:20 with the right field."
 
Lopes' freshman Malakai Baier made a splash in his multi-event debut, placing 3^rd in the Men's Heptathlon. Baier set personal records in six of the seven events.
 
In the throws, fellow freshman Elijah Triou continued his streak, hitting a mark of 14.51m in the Shot Put. It's the third straight meet that Triou has upped his PR and his national lead.
 
NIRCA National Leaders
Following the Gaucho Indoor, GCU Club Track & Field now holds the #1 spot nationally in six events:
Women's 60m Hurdles: Lauren Metcalf
Men's Shot Put: Elijah Triou
Women's 600m: Siena Burns
omen's Pole Vault: Delaney Herr
Men's 4x400m Relay: Malakai Baier, Ezra Wildeman, Andrew Reardon, Evan Van Pelt
Women's 4x400m Relay: Kayle Collman, Mallory McCray, Alexis Steward, Siena Burns
 
Full results from the meet can be found here. To catch up on where the Lopes are in the national rankings, click here.
 
The Lopes now travel north to Flagstaff to compete in the Northern Arizona University Tune Up meet on February 20.