May 27, 2005

Results

E. Elmhurst, N.Y. - George Mason, which did not advance any athletes to the finals of their respective events, has no points after day one of the Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field NCAA East Region Championships, held Friday at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island near Manhattan.

The Patriots participated in seven events Friday (six men's, one women's) beginning with junior Quentin Matthews (Chesapeake, Va.), who did not make the initial qualifying height to advance in the men's high jump. Senior Marc Kellman (Coram, N.Y.) also failed to advance in the men's long jump after fouling on each of his three attempts.

The best showing on the afternoon came from senior Ricardo Cunningham (Clarendon, Jamaica) in the men's 800m run. Cunningham ran the ninth fastest time in the event, finishing in a time of 1:50.21. He missed out advancing to the finals by .28 seconds, which would have tied him for the eighth and final position.

Graduate student Mike Garner (Frederick, Md.) entered the meet with an injury to the tendon in his left hamstring. But, the Colonial Athletic Association and IC4A champion attempted to tough things out on the track, running in the men's 100m and 200m dashes. The injury limited his ability, however, as Garner ran the 17th best time in the 100m (10.69) and pulled up in the 200m dash, finishing the competition in 20th- place (24.10).

Freshman Fiana York (Havertown, Pa.), who competed in the women's 800m run, finished the event 33rd overall in time of 2:16.69.

After some early debate, the Patriot men also fielded a 4x100m-relay team which ultimately placed 19th overall (45.65) after the preliminary rounds. However, an error was made in identifying the Patriot athletes participating in the race. The consequence of the error was a costly one for Mason, resulting in the disqualification of sophomore Ryan McCoy (Roanoke, Va.) from Saturday's triple jump competition.

The meet concludes Saturday with finals in most of the track events as well as several field competitions. The top five athletes in the finals of each event advance to the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif. in June. Four more at-large selections will also be chosen.

Kellman, the CAA champion in the triple jump, will participate in Saturday's 4 p.m. trials and finals of the triple jump. He currently has the fifth best leap among individuals that have qualified for the East Regional meet at a personal best of 15.83m.

Mason's women's track and field team completes its season.