May 12, 2007
PRINCETON, N.J. -
George Mason's relay team of junior Kris Cruz, freshman Anthony LaMastro, junior Ryan Davis and freshman Michael Pachella qualified for the finals of the 4x800-meter relay at the IC4A Championships, held at William Weaver Track and Field Stadium in Princeton, N.J. on Saturday afternoon.
The team placed second in the preliminary round with a time of 7:35.59. The only team that finished with a better time than Mason was Georgetown's team of Dan Gerber, Kelvin Hill, John Maloy and Rasheed Thompson, who crossed the finish line in 7:32.25. Tomorrow's finals are scheduled for 3:05 p.m.
Junior Brian Hay just barely missed qualifying for the finals of the 110-meter hurdles, finishing in ninth place with a time of 14.37 seconds, one spot out of the finals. The top eight finishers all qualified for tomorrow's finals. Hay will get another chance to run in the event this season as he qualified for the NCAA East Regional Championships, scheduled for May 25-26 in Gainesville, Fla.
Sophomore Murielle Ahoure took the first step toward successfully defending her ECAC titles in the 100- and 200-meter dash, advancing to the finals of both events by finishing first in the preliminary heats on Saturday.
In the first round of the 100-meter dash, Ahoure blew away the field, recording a time of 11.43 seconds to advance to the semifinal round. The next fastest time in the first round was 11.72 seconds, posted by Jessica Foreman of the University of Connecticut. Ahoure also finished with the fastest time in the semifinal round, crossing the finish line in 11.46 seconds. The Bristow, Va. native will run in the finals of the event tomorrow at 1:15 p.m.
Ahoure also finished first in the preliminary round of the 200-meter dash, finishing the race in 23.54 seconds. Teammate Tiara Swindell, a freshman from Hampton, Va. competing in her first ECAC Outdoor Championship meet, also advanced to the finals of the event, finishing with the eighth-best time in the preliminary heats, clocking in at 24.45 seconds. Both Ahoure and Swindell will run in tomorrow's finals, slated to begin at 2:15 p.m.
Ahoure and Swindell also ran on the Patriots' 4x100-meter relay team that finished fourth in the preliminary rounds with a time of 46.06 seconds. Sophomore Ryann Hendricks began the relay, passing the baton to teammate Marie Fields, who gave way to Swindell, before Ahoure ran the final leg of the race. The team will compete in the finals of the relay, scheduled for tomorrow at noon.
The only member of the women's team to compete in the field events was Hendricks, who finished 10th in the long jump with a mark of 5.73 meters (18 ft. 9.75 in.). Hendricks will compete in the finals of one more individual event tomorrow, the triple jump scheduled for 11 a.m.
The third and final day of the IC4A/ECAC Championships at William Weaver Track and Field Stadium will begin at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow with the ECAC javelin throw. The final event scheduled for the day is the IC4A 4x400-meter relay. The presentation of awards will follow the final event.
