The Grand Canyon University track and field team ended its regular season with notable performances at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Arizona. Several athletes achieved marks ranked both nationally and regionally, setting a competitive tone leading up to the WAC Outdoor Championships.
“I thought we had a really good final regular season meet and more importantly got through the meet healthy,” remarked GCU head coach Tom Flood.
In the men’s 110-meter hurdles, standout performances came from Francisco Marques, Cam Wilmington, and Daviciea McCartney, who all finished under 14 seconds. Marques leads the West Region at No. 4, while Wilmington is 10th. Flood highlighted, “Our men’s high hurdles group started the meet off with a bang,” emphasizing that the group ranks third in the NCAA.
Prosper Ekporere is part of this highly ranked group but was rested during the meet. Marques, Wilmington, and McCartney hold the top spots in the WAC for this event. McCartney also set a new school record in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 49.89 seconds, ranking 10th nationally and leading the WAC. Wilmington’s time of 50.43 seconds places him 23rd in NCAA standings.
“Daviciea and Cam had a great meet and both doubled back in the 400-meter hurdles with Daviciea breaking his own school record with a time of 49.89,” Flood noted.
In other standout performances, Joseph Harding clocked times of 10.34 seconds in the 100 meters and 21.14 seconds in the 200 meters, earning rankings within the West Region. Freshman Nina Thevenin also impressed with times in the 100m and 200m, securing top-20 rankings regionally.
In the 400 meters, Joshua Gittens posted a leading WAC mark (46.55 seconds), and Taliyah Booker ran a notable 53.72 seconds. Junior Germain Lemaitre accomplished a commendable finish in the 800 meters with a time of 1 minute, 48.51 seconds.
Lucy George achieved her personal best in the javelin with a throw of 46.50 meters, marking the No. 2 performance in the WAC.
Flood concluded, “We have positioned ourselves very well to make a lot of noise at the WAC Outdoor Championships in two weeks.”
The WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships are scheduled for May 15-17 at UT Arlington’s Maverick Stadium, where the GCU team aims to continue their streak of conference titles.
