May 4, 2007
Patriot Open Invitational Meet Schedule in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason men's and women's track and field teams will host their final track and field meet of the outdoor season, the Patriot Open Invitational, on Saturday at George Mason Stadium. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. with the field events, including the women's hammer throw, men's javelin throw, men's pole vault and women's long jump. The running events will begin at 11 a.m. with the women's 5000-meter run. The final event - the men's 4x400-meter relay - is slated to begin at 2:40 p.m.
The meet will be the Patriots final opportunity to qualify for next weekend's ECAC/IC4A Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held at William Weaver Track and Field Stadium in Princeton, N.J. The men's team will be defending their 2006 IC4A team title, the 11th in the history of the program, at this year's meet. The current team has qualified three athletes for the IC4A Championships, including freshman Michael Pachella in the 800-meter run, graduate student Charles Millioen in the 5000-meter run and junior Brian Hay in the 110-meter hurdles.
Pachella ran his fastest time in the 800-meter run at the Mt. Sac Relays on April 13, crossing the finish line in 1:51.24. Millioen's top time of the season in the 5000-meter run came at the Colonial Relays on April 6, where he finished in 14:34.67. Hay ran his best time of the outdoor season in the 110-meter hurdles last weekend at the Penn Relays, finishing the race in 14.54 seconds. In addition to these three athletes, the Patriots have also qualified for the IC4A Championships in both the 4x400-meter relay and the 4x800-meter relay.
Like the men's team, the Patriot women have qualified three athletes for the ECAC Championships. The women also have a returning champion in sophomore Murielle Ahoure, who will defend her titles in both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash at next weekend's meet. In addition to Ahoure, both Ryann Hendricks and Tiara Swindell have qualified for the ECAC Championships in two events. Hendricks will compete in both the long jump and the triple jump, while Swindell will run in the 200- and 400-meter dash. The women's team will also run in the 4x100-meter relay at the meet.
In addition to the ECAC Championships, the trio has also qualified for the NCAA East Regional Championships, slated for April 25-26 at Percy Beard Track and Field Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. Ahoure qualified in the 100- and 200-meter dash with times of 11.41 and 23.48 seconds, respectively. Swindell will compete at the regional meet in her freshman year on the strength of her first-place performance at the CAA Championships in the 400-meter dash. Hendricks also placed first at the CAA Championships, leaping 12.33 meters to win the conference's triple jump title and qualify for regionals.
In addition to both George Mason teams, CAA rivals James Madison, VCU and William and Mary will compete at the meet, along with programs like Maryland and Virginia. Saturday's meet is free and open to the public.
