All eyes – on all levels – are on them today.
Grand Canyon University Club Track and Field's incredibly successful first season continues to pay dividends as two of the squad's top members have gotten the call to move up to the
Lopes' NCAA Division I Track & Field program. The names of GCU freshman
Evan Van Pelt and sophomore
Siena Burns were routinely mentioned when
Lopes' Club Head Coach Todd Lehman discussed the success at the team's various meets this year, and now have the chance to do the same for
GCU NCAA Head Coach Tom Flood.
"I wasn't surprised at all that Evan got the call," said Lehman. "I was grateful for him that he was getting that opportunity. He certainly earned it. As far as Siena, I'd been in communication with
(Lopes' Cross Country Head) Coach (Shayla) Houlihan throughout the year and knew that she was on her radar from early on. When she got the call, I was proud for her and knew how much she wanted it. She's a great kid, and I know that she and Shayla will do great things."
Each earned the jump in strikingly different ways: one in the heat of the moment, the other after the dust had settled. Van Pelt's path moved fast, since he ascended just days after the freshman closed out his club season. Why the haste? Van Pelt departed Olivet, Michigan
as a national champion in the 400m hurdles at the National Intercollegiate Running Club Association (NIRCA) Outdoor Championships - crossing in 54.43 with a diving finish at the line. Flood saw an immediate need that the Windsor, Colorado native could fill for the stretch of meets that remained on the NCAA calendar after mid-April.
The national title finish capped a debut club season in which Van Pelt showcased range well beyond his signature event,
piling up personal records across the 100m, 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles in a single meet at the Carvel Jackson Memorial Showcase while extending his NIRCA national lead.
Burns' move came with less urgency but no less impact. About a month after the club season wrapped, Flood's staff reached out to the Lopes' "do-it-all" mid-distance threat, who spent her sophomore season proving there was no race too long or too frequent. Burns held a national-leading mark in the 600m, and
won the 800m at the Gaucho Indoor in early February by besting her PR by nearly four seconds. Two months later at NIRCA Nationals, the sophomore who grew up in Wrightwood, California – in the mountains above San Bernardino - took a last-minute entry into the open 400m to a 4th-place PR before adding a 3rd-place finish in the 800m and anchoring the Lopes' 4x400m relay -- all in the same weekend.
"I had the good fortune to watch them at several meets this year and follow their GCU Club progress (plus they were consistently updating me on their respective seasons)," said Flood. " I was very impressed with their GCU Club Team performances and have offered them both walk-on spots. They both have legitimate shots at making our final rosters in December and trying to make our conference rosters for our Mountain West Conference T&F Championships. We as a coaching staff are excited to watch their progress."
"We have a lot of interested club members whose primary goal is to not just continue their track career with us, but also promote up to the NCAA level," said Lehman. "These two showing that that is a true possibility just legitimizes our program and our staff's ability to get them there."
