Jan. 6, 2007

Complete Results

FAIRFAX, Va. - George Mason's men's and women's track and field teams opened up the 2007 indoor track and field season by hosting the Father Diamond Invitational at the Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. Junior Michael Wade, a transfer from Robert Morris University, recorded a first-place finish in the triple jump and a third-place finish in the long jump in his first competition for the Patriots' men's team. Wade leapt 13.85 meters to win the triple jump and jumped 6.89 meters in the long jump.

Like Wade, freshman Marcus Wyche also got off to a great start in his first meet as a Patriot. Wyche finished first in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:06.03, beating teammate Mutsa Nyakabau to the finish line. Nyakabau finished second with a time of 1:06.84.

The men's team performed well in both relay events on Saturday, finishing first in the 4x800-meter relay and second in the 4x400-meter relay. In the 4x800-meter relay, the team of Travis Boccher, John Crain, Kris Cruz and Ryan Davis crossed the finish line in 8:02.50, finishing 20 seconds faster than the second-place team, Bowie State. George Mason's 4x400-meter relay team of Mutsa Nyakabau, Marcus Wyche, Andrew Wright-Hall and Javan Corniffe's time of 3:26.23 was second to only Winston-Salem State's time of 3:22.08.

The Patriots dominated in the 3000-meter run, finishing with eight of the top 10 finishers in the event. Mason's top finisher was Cruz, who crossed the finish line in 8:57.24 to finish in second place. Mount St. Mary's Matthew Logie won the event with a time of 8:56.00.

Sophomore Murielle Ahoure headlined the meet for the women's team, reaching the NCAA's provisional qualifying mark in the 60-meter dash. While Ahoure's first-place time of 7.35 seconds in the 60-meter dash finals qualified her provisionally for the NCAA Indoor Championships, slated for March 9-10 in Fayetteville, Ark., it also qualified her for the ECAC Championships in Boston, Mass. scheduled for March 3-4. The time was the fastest of Ahoure's career and the second-fastest time in George Mason history behind Sherri' Funn's George Mason record time of 7.28 seconds, set in 1981.

Another sophomore, Ryann Hendricks, also had a stellar afternoon for the women's team, finishing first in the long jump and second in the triple jump, qualifying for the ECAC Championships in both events. Hendricks set a new personal record in the long jump, bounding 5.95 meters, and finished second to Norfolk State's Imani Moorman with a leap of 11.75 meters in the triple jump. Moorman won the triple jump with a mark of 11.95 meters.

Also highlighting the day for the women's team were junior Alicia York, who finished third in the 3000-meter run with a time of 10:44.79, a new personal best in the event, and the 4x400-meter relay team of Ahoure, freshman Marie Fields, freshman Tiara Swindell and junior Melissa Ferry, which finished second to Georgetown in the event with a time of 3:55.50. Georgetown's team of Kandance Ferguson, Nana Hanson-Hall, Ashley Hubbard and Nichole Torpey finished in 3:47.26.

George Mason's men's and women's track and field teams will compete again next weekend at the Virginia Tech Invitational in Blacksburg, Va. The two-day meet begins on Friday and concludes on Saturday.