Feb. 15, 2003
FAIRFAX, VA ... Two George Mason University athletes posted provisionally qualifying marks for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships at Saturday's Collegiate Open, hosted by the Patriots at the George Mason Fieldhouse.
Freshman Alyce Williams (Palm Coast, FL/Flagler Palm Coast) won the women's triple jump with a 42-foot, 1-? inch jump to provisionally qualify. She currently ranks eighth in the nation in the triple jump, with a personal-best and school record-setting 43-foot, ?-inch performance two weeks ago.
Sophomore transfer Richard Phillips (St. Catherine, Jamaica/Ardenne/Abilene Christian) won the 60-meter hurdles in a season-best 7.90 seconds to also provisionally qualify for the NCAAs.
Georgetown's Davin Williams was the only other competitor to post an NCAA provisionally qualifying mark at Saturday's meet, winning the men's long jump with a 24-foot, 11?-inch performance.
The George Mason women's team had eight other winning performances. The women's 4x400-meter relay of freshmen twins Alyce and Alycia Williams (Palm Coast, FL/Flagler Palm Coast), junior Sheena Goss (Elk Grove, CA/Laguna Creek) and sophomore Sheena Davidson (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) won in 3:46.69 to qualify for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Indoor Championships and the women's 4x800-meter relay of sophomore Kathy Williams (Lanham, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt), sophomore Ryann Holmes (Largo, MD/Largo Senior), junior Dana Early (Milmont Park, PA/Ridley) and senior Michelle DiPenti (Warren, PA/Warren Area) won in a season-best and ECAC-qualifying 9:18.06.
Individually, Davidson won the 800 meters in 2:10.81 to qualify for the ECAC Championships. Junior Kim Morgan (Houston, TX/Alief Hastings) won two events - the women's long jump with an ECAC-qualifying mark of 19 feet, ? inches and the 55 meters in a season-best and ECAC-qualifying 7.06 seconds. Freshman Tysha Colon (Washington, DC/HD Woodson) also won two events - the 200 meters in a season-best 24.43 seconds and the 55 meters in 7.09 seconds, qualifying for the ECAC Championships in both events. Both athletes ran on the women's "B" squad in the 4x400-meter relay with senior NamTasha Joyner (Richmond, VA/John F. Kennedy) and sophomore Paula Bailey (Winston Salem, NC/West Forsyth), placing second in the ECAC-qualifying 3:53.75.
Other Patriots to post winning performances were the men's 4x800-meter relay of junior Ben Sommers (Nashua, NH/Nashua), senior Kevin Nishiyama (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks East), sophomore Dominique Brown (Somerville, NJ/Somerville) and junior transfer Ricardo Cunningham (Clarendon, Jamaica/Vere Tech/SW Christian CC) in 7:53.64, Nishiyama in the 500 meters in a season-best 1:04.52 to qualify for the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) Indoor Championships and senior Serge Bengono (Yaounde, Cameroon/Younde) with a season-best and IC4A-qualifying time of 6.79 seconds in the 60 meters.
Competition included athletes from 15 schools, including George Mason, Georgetown, Temple and UNC Charlotte.
The Patriots return to action next Sunday, February 23, as hosts of the GMU Winter Open.
George Mason W Results (placement among collegians only)
55 M: Kim Morgan (1) 7.06, 7.23 (p); Tysha Colon (2) 7.07, 7.09 (p); NamTasha Joyner (8) 7.29; Paula Bailey (19) 7.64
55 H: Ameca Williams (4) 8.33, 8.40 (p); Aisha Williams (15) 9.03
200 M: Tysha Colon (1) 24.43; Alyce Williams (2) 24.47; NamTasha Joyner (5) 25.38; Kim Morgan (6) 25.39; Paula Bailey (9) 25.75
500 M: Kathy Williams (11) 1:18.86
800 M: Sheena Davidson (1) 2:10.81; Sheena Goss (3) 2:13.58; Alycia Williams (4) 2:17.01; Rose Moeser (14) 2:29.56; Nicole Holifield (17) 2:30.53; Zulei Thomas (20) 2:32.54
1000 M: Michelle DiPenti (2) 2:53.17; Dana Early (4) 2:57.52; Ryann Holmes (13) 3:04.37; Sara Hines (16) 3:10.61
Mile: Sara Hines (9) 5:22.95
4x4: "A" Alyce Williams, Alycia Williams, Sheena Goss, Sheena Davidson (1) 3:46.69; "B" NamTasha Joyner, Tysha Colon, Paula Bailey, Kim Morgan (2) 3:53.75
4x8: Kathy Williams, Ryann Holmes, Dana Early, Michelle DiPenti (1) 9:18.06
Long Jump: Kim Morgan (1) 19-?
Triple Jump: Alyce Williams (1) 42-1?; Aisha Williams (4) 37-8?
Shot Put: Jessica Cross (5) 43-?
Weight Throw: Jessica Cross (5) 47-1
George Mason M Results (placement among collegians only)
60 M: Serge Bengono (1) 6.79, 6.83 (p); Sammy Sesay (6) 6.96, 7.04 (p); Justin Hernandez (15) 7.29; Randle Logan (16) 7.30
60 H: Richard Phillips (1) 7.90, 7.98 (p)
200 M: Randle Logan (8) 22.98; Jason Kott (14) 23.58; Justin Hernandez (19) 24.28
Mile: Arjun Dabir (20) 4:57.47
500 M: Kevin Nishiyama (1) 1:04.52; Ricardo Cunningham (3) 1:05.40; Dominique Brown (5) 1:07.01
1000 M: Alex Gornik (9) 2:44.31
4x8: Ben Sommers, Kevin Nishiyama, Dominique Brown, Ricardo Cunningham (1) 7:53.64
High Jump: Jon Martin (2) 6-10?; Wayne Wright (4) 6-8
Weight Throw: Josh Cole (10) 39-2?
