March 11, 2007

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - With a leap of 15.66 meters (51 ft. 4.5 in.) in the triple jump at the 2007 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., Ryan McCoy (Roanoke, Va./William Fleming) placed eighth in the event, earning the senior All-America status for the second time in his career. The top eight finishers in the event all earn the honor of being an All-American.

McCoy reached his best mark of the day on his sixth and final jump. Prior to his final jump, his best mark of the day was 15.47 meters, which would have placed him ninth behind Texas A&M's Zuheir Sharif.

McCoy's performance marks the 80th time the George Mason men's track and field program has produced an All-American athlete during the indoor track and field season. The Patriots have had six All-Americans in the triple jump alone during the indoor season. McCoy also achieved the honor at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with an eighth-place finish in the triple jump.

Along with McCoy, seven other athletes earned All-American honors in the triple jump, including Louisville's Andre Black, who won the event with a mark of 16.29 meters (53 ft. 5.5 in.), Cornell's Muhammad Halim, Arkansas' Nkosinza Balumbu, Long Beach State's Ronald Carter, Cornell's Ray Taylor, Indiana's Kyle Jenkins and Michigan's Michael Whitehead.

With the indoor season completed, George Mason's men's track and field team will now start the outdoor track and field season. The team's first meet, the Wake Forest Open, is scheduled for March 23-24 in Winston-Salem, N.C.