PHX Reporter

Grand Canyon University athletes broke three school records at the Riverfront Invitational & Multis in Spokane. The event, held over three days at The Podium, saw GCU athletes achieve notable marks within the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and on a national level.

GCU head coach Tom Flood expressed satisfaction with the performances, stating, "Overall, I thought he had a great weekend in Spokane with a lot of fantastic times and marks."

In multi-event competitions, senior Casey Tow and junior Maliyah Ross led the WAC in their respective events. Tow scored 5415 points in the men's heptathlon to finish second overall. Ross secured 3706 points in the women's pentathlon to place fourth.

"We started off the weekend with a couple of good performances from our multi-event athletes," Flood said. "In particular, Casey Tow and Maliyah Ross had scores that took over the WAC lead in their respective events."

On Friday, GCU's 200-meter runners excelled. Senior Justin Raines clocked 20.79 seconds to rank first in the WAC and fifteenth nationally. Junior Miguel Rosario III recorded 20.94 seconds for second place within the conference rankings.

"Friday night's fireworks came from our 200-meter group," Flood remarked.

The men's distance medley relay team set a new school record on Friday with a time of 10 minutes, 5.38 seconds.

Saturday's events featured significant achievements in triple jump by senior Taryn Burkett and freshman Godwin Charles. Burkett set her third consecutive school record with a jump of 13.28 meters while Charles marked his entry into GCU history by jumping 15.41 meters.

"Today we had double the fun in the triple jump with two school records," Flood noted.

Sophomore Prosper Ekporere also impressed by leading WAC times in both preliminary and final rounds of the 60-meter hurdles.

Looking ahead, GCU will compete next at Albuquerque's Don Kirby Elite Invitational as they prepare for further success this season.

"We can't wait to get back home to sunny, warm Phoenix tomorrow and will look forward to getting even better next weekend back in Albuquerque," Flood concluded.