May 18, 2003
PRINCETON, NJ ... The George Mason University men's and women's track & field teams opened postseason competition over the weekend at the ECAC/IC4A Championships, being held jointly in Princeton, NJ.
The men's team tied for 11th place with 28 points at the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) Championships, while the women tied for 31st with eight points at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships. West Virginia's men's team edged Princeton 48-47 for the IC4A team title, while the women's team from Pittsburgh won decisively with 114 points, with Georgetown as runner-up with 68 points.
Senior Serge Bengono (Yaounde, Cameroon/Younde) led the men's team, with two top-five individual finishes. He placed third in the 100 meters in 10.58 seconds and finished fifth in the 200 meters in 21.52 seconds. Additionally, Bengono ran the second leg of the men's 4x100-meter relay that won in 40.72 seconds. Freshman Sam Sesay (Hyattsville, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt), senior Henry Harris (Cleveland Heights, OH/Essex CC) and sophomore Richard Phillips (St. Catherine, Jamaica/Ardenne/Abilene Christian) completed the winning 4x1 lineup.
The men's 4x400-meter relay of Phillips, Harris, junior Ricardo Cunningham (Clarendon, Jamaica/Vere Tech/SW Christian CC) and senior Kevin Nishiyama (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks East) placed seventh in 3:11.90.
Phillips and Harris also scored in individual events for the Patriots. Phillips placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles in 52.59 seconds, while Harris finished seventh in the 400 meters in 47.37 seconds. He ran a season-best time of 47.12 seconds during the preliminary round posting his first individual qualifying time for the NCAA East Regional Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
The women's team was led by junior Kim Morgan (Houston, TX/Alief Hastings) with a season-best leap of 19 feet, 10? inches to place fourth in the women's long jump, while junior Corri Allen (Sacramento, CA/Laguna Creek) finished ninth with a season-best 18-foot, 10?-inch performance.
Freshman Alycia Williams (Palm Coast, FL/Flagler Palm Coast) scored for the Patriots, placing sixth in the 400 meters in 55.49 seconds. She posted a season-best time of 54.39 seconds to finish third during the preliminary round.
Following a week off from competition select athletes advance to the first-ever NCAA East Regional Outdoor Track & Field Championships at George Mason Stadium from Friday, May 30 through Saturday, May 31. The top-five individual winners and top-three relays advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Sacramento State from Wednesday, June 11 through Saturday, June 14.
