May 13, 2005
FAIRFAX, Va. - Members of the George Mason men's and women's outdoor track and field teams are set to participate in their respective Eastern championships this weekend. The Patriot women are sending five athletes to the 22nd Annual Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships, while the men will contend in the 129th Annual Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Both championship meets are being held at Princeton University's Outdoor Track and field Complex beginning on Friday with the decathlon, heptathlon, men's discus and distance program and continuing through Sunday.
Athletes expected to compete on the women's side include seniors Shamekia Louis (Fairfax, Va.) in the 100m dash and Paula Bailey (Winston Salem, N.C.) in the 200m and 400m dashes. Louis and Bailey will join senior Kathy Williams (Lanham, Md.) and freshman Misti Turner (Fort Worth, Texas) on the 4x100m relay team. Also, freshman Fiana York (Fr.; Havertown, Pa.) will see time at Princeton by virtue of her Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championship performance in the 800m run.
On the men's side, graduate student and three-time CAA champion Mike Garner (Frederick, Md.) will run in the 100m and 200m dashes, while 800m CAA champion Ricardo Cunningham (Sr.; Clarendon, Jamaica) will also compete. Junior Sammy Sesay (Hyattsville, Md.) will participate in the 100m dash along with Garner, and freshman Brian Hay (Kingston, Jamaica) will run in the 110m hurdles.
Mason's contingent in the field events include senior Marc Kellman (Coram, N.Y.), who won the triple jump at the CAA Championships. He will also contend in the IC4A long jump. Junior Quentin Matthews (Chesapeake, Va.) and senior Wayne Wright (Roanoke, Va.) will battle in the high jump. Senior Ricardo Melbourne (Spanish Town, Jamaica), the CAA Championships Most Outstanding Performer and winner of the 110m and 400m hurdles, will also be heading to Princeton.
Kellman, Garner, Sesay and Hay will team up to run the 4x100m relay with senior Justin Hernandez (Fairfax, Va.) used as an alternate.
The first track/running event for the Patriots will take place Saturday with the IC4A 4x100m relay trials that begin at 10:30 a.m. and the ECAC 4x100m relay trials that start at 2:45 p.m. The first field event for Mason will be the IC4A triple jump on Sunday at 11:00 a.m.
Mason will be looking to qualify more athletes for the NCAA East Regional, May 27-28, at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island (N.Y.) near Manhattan.
