ARLINGTON, Texas – Grand Canyon was projected to take the top spot of the podium for both the men’s and women’s side at the 2024 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships according to the pre-championship coaches’ poll presented by TicketSmarter. Grand Canyon will look to win its fourth straight men’s outdoor championship and sweep both the indoor and outdoor titles on the women’s side for the 2023-2024 season.
 
The Lopes were slotted ahead of UT Arlington, Southern Utah, Utah Valley, and Stephen F. Austin in the men’s top five for the championship meet at the Hal Wing Track & Field Stadium in Orem, Utah. Utah Valley’s women’s squad was picked to finish second behind Grand Canyon with UT Arlington, UTRGV, and Southern Utah rounding out the top five women’s teams. 
 
2024 WAC OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP POLLS
 
2024 WAC Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Pre-Championship Coaches’ Poll
 
Rank    Team
1.         Grand Canyon
2.         UT Arlington
3.         Southern Utah
4.         Utah Valley
5.         Stephen F. Austin
 
2024 WAC Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Pre-Championship Coaches’ Poll
 
Rank    Team
1.         Grand Canyon
2.         Utah Valley
3.         UT Arlington
4.         UTRGV
5.         Southern Utah
 
GCU MEN’S SQUAD LOOKING 4 ANOTHER
 
The Grand Canyon Lopes have won the last three WAC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships and this week they look to make it four in a row. Along with their last three titles, the Lopes have won five out of the last seven WAC Men’s Outdoor Championships.
 
GCU won last year’s outdoor championship with 162.5 points, 33.5 points more than runner up Southern Utah. Head Coach Tom Flood has led the Lopes to each of the last three titles and has been awarded Coach of the Year in each title run. Coach Flood and the GCU men’s team look for redemption from the WAC Indoor Championship by finishing one spot higher in the team standings and with a fourth straight outdoor trophy.
 
 
WAC IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
 
Three teams rank inside the top 100 of USTFCCCA’s NCAA Division I Men’s Team Rankings: Grand Canyon at 41^st, UT Arlington at 80^th, and Seattle U at 99^th. On the women’s side, Grand Canyon checks in at 83^rd and UT Arlington closely behind at 91^st.
 
Grand Canyon’s Israel Oloyede’s hammer throw of 74.84m (245-6.00) puts himself inside the country’s top five hammer throws on the year, coming in at fifth. Fellow Lope, Jack Hodge, made his way near the top of the pole vault national rankings as he ranks 12^th with a mark of 5.50m (18-0.50).
 
California Baptist’s Yasna Petrova and Valentin Soca recorded notable times in the 10,000 meters as both rank inside the top 15 nationally. Petrova’s time of 32:36.97 is the 6^th best women’s time in the country, while Soca holds the 13^th best men’s time in the nation, clocking in at 28:14.96.
 
The decathlon will be an event to watch as the WAC has two student-athletes inside the top 15 nationally. UT Arlington’s Lucas Van Klaveren holds the 8^th best score with 7785 points and GCU’s Casey Tow checks in at 15^th with 7493.
 
Utah Valley wants to make some noise on their home territory and it might come from Kelsi Oldroyd who holds the 11^th best javelin throw in the nation with a mark of 54.35m (178-3.00).
 
Jedidiah Udunna of UTRGV leaped his way to the 13^th best long jump distance in the country, jumping a mark of 7.92m (26-0.00).
 
Southern Utah’s Hayden Harward and Utah Valley’s Joel Mendez find themselves 19^th and 20^th nationally, respectively, in the men’s 3000 steeplechase. Harward put down a time of 8:39.24 with Mendez not far behind at 8:39.55. CBU’s Greta Karinauskaite represents the women’s side of the WAC in the steeplechase, as she is ranked fourth in the country with a time of 9:37.31.