March 11, 2004

A pair of George Mason track and field athletes will compete this weekend at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships at Fayetteville, Ark. The Patriots are sending Richard Phillips and Alyce Williams to the national meet where they will compete in the 60-meter hurdles and triple jump, respectively.

Phillips will be the first to compete, taking to the track at 5:20 p.m. on Friday. He qualified 14th out of 18 competitors after winning the IC4A Championship last weekend. His seed time is 7.79 seconds. If he advances to the finals, he would via for All-American honors at 8:20 p.m. in the finals.

Williams will have to wait until Saturday afternoon to take on the nation's best collegians in the triple jump. Her event starts at 4:10 p.m. with preliminary and final jumps. Williams qualified with a distance of 13.08-meters, placing her 16th out of 17 competitors. Williams was 17th last year, but that time, the NCAA only accepted 16 competitors in the triple jump, leaving her home.