May 30, 2003

Results

FAIRFAX, VA ... Senior sprinter Serge Bengono (Yaounde, Cameroon/Younde) posted the fastest time in the preliminary round of the men's 100 meters to lead the George Mason University track & field teams on the first day of competition at the inaugural NCAA East Regional Track & Field Championships at George Mason Stadium.

Just .01 seconds off his season-best performance, Bengono - a two-time Olympian -- finished the 100 meters in 10.36 seconds. Appalachian State junior Ernest Wiggins entered the meet with an East-Region best time of 10.22 seconds, but finished fifth in 10.51 seconds. Bengono, Wiggins and six other athletes will meet tomorrow in the finals of the 100 meters.

Bengono also ran on George Mason's 4x100-meter relay that qualified for Saturday's finals. The relay of freshman Sam Sesay (Hyattsville, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt), Bengono, senior Henry Harris (Cleveland Heights, OH/Cleveland Heights/Essex CC) and sophomore Richard Phillips (St. Catherine, Jamaica/Ardenne/Abilene Christian) placed seventh in the preliminary round in a season-best 39.99 seconds.

Phillips also moves onto tomorrow's finals in the men's 110-meter hurdles after placing sixth overall in 14.07 seconds. Florida sophomore Josh Walker, the event favorite in the East Region, finished with the fastest time of 13.49 seconds.

After entering the men's high jump ranked 26th in the East Region, junior Wayne Wright (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) posted a season-best mark of 6 feet, 9? inches to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place. He was the lone Patriot to score points on Friday, recording 0.33 points for the men's team to take a 25th-place tie with UMBC. North Carolina senior Adam Shunk won the event, setting an East Region record with a season-best 7-foot, 3?-inch jump.

In other events Phillips placed 11th in the 200 meters in a season-best 21.01 seconds, Harris placed 12th in the 400 meters in a season-best 46.90 seconds and junior Ricardo Cunningham (Clarendon, Jamaica/Vere Tech/SW Christian CC) finished 17th in the men's 800 meters in 1:51.11. Junior Kim Morgan (Houston, TX/Alief Hastings) led the women's team with a 19-foot, 4-inch mark in the long jump to place ninth - just out of scoring range.

Also competing for the women's team on Friday was sophomore Sheena Davidson (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) shattering her personal best in the 400 meters, placing 15th during the preliminary round in 54.03 seconds to move up to fourth place on Mason's all-time outdoor performers list in the 400. Freshman Alycia Williams (Palm Coast, FL/Flagler Palm Coast) finished 24th in the event in 54.65 seconds. Junior Sheena Goss (Elk Grove, CA/Laguna Creek) placed 22nd during the preliminary round of the 800 meters in 2:12.15.

The Patriots wrap up NCAA regional competition at home on Saturday, May 31. They need a top-five individual finish or a top-three relay finish to guarantee advancement to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Sacramento, CA, from June 11-14. In addition to those athletes moving on to tomorrow's finals, freshman Alyce Williams (Palm Coast, FL/Flagler Palm Coast) will compete in the triple jump and the women's 4x400-meter relay of senior NamTasha Joyner (Richmond, VA/John F. Kennedy/North Carolina Central), Alycia Williams, Goss and Davidson will see action.

Saturday's competition begins at 9:30 a.m. with the pole vault, while the running events start at 4 p.m.