April 7, 2006

AUSTIN, Texas - The George Mason men's and women's track and field teams will be competing at one of the most prestigious track and field meets of the year this weekend when they travel to Austin, Texas to take part in the Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

"The competition is great at the Texas Relays," said men's head coach Andrew Gerard. "It's a fantastic meet, probably in the top three most prestigious relay meets in the country."

Gerard has sent an elite group of sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers to the meet so Mason should be well represented in those events. Among the athletes making the trip to the Texas Relays are senior Richard Phillips, a 2004 Olympian, who qualified for the NCAA East Regional Championships with a time of 14.10 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles at last weekend's Mason Spring Open Invitational. Senior Marc Kellman will be competing in his signature event, the triple jump, for the first time during this year's outdoor season. He was the national runner-up in the event during the indoor season. Joining Kellman in the triple jump will be fellow All-American Ryan McCoy, whose leap of 15.53 meters last weekend is the sixth-best mark in the nation during the outdoor season.

Five women will travel to Austin, including freshman Murielle Ahoure, senior Sheena Davidson, freshman Ryann Hendricks, sophomore Misti Turner and freshman Brittanie Williams. Key events for the women include the 4x100-meter relay, the 100-meter dash and the 100-meter hurdles.

The women have already qualified for the ECAC Championships in the 4x100-meter relay, and head coach Angie Taylor said she hopes this is the weekend the team of Turner, Davidson, Hendricks and Ahoure can achieve a mark that will qualify them for the NCAA East Regional Championships.

Ahoure has already qualified for the NCAA East Regional Championships in the 100-meter dash, but Taylor believes the freshman could run even faster this weekend.

"This is a great opportunity for Murielle to compete against the best in the country," Taylor said. "Her times have been consistent and I think with the atmosphere and competition at this meet, it could be a good weekend for her to drop her time."

Williams' times in the 100-meter hurdles have been getting better with each passing week, including her ECAC-qualifying performance at last weekend's Mason Spring Open Invitational, and Taylor believes she could improve upon that time.

"Brittanie's times in the hurdles have been dropping significantly," Taylor said. "We're hoping she breaks 14 seconds." The qualifying mark for the NCAA East Regional Championships in the event is 13.92 seconds.

Another group of women will travel to Newark, Del. to compete in the Delaware Invitational on Saturday. "The women traveling to Delaware will have an opportunity to get some work in and focus on getting ready for the conference championships," Taylor said.