Jan. 26, 2008

Complete Results

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason track and field program hosted the Patriot Games on Saturday afternoon at the Fieldhouse. Both the men's and women's teams had a successful day at the meet, with the men finishing in first place in the team scoring with 128 points and the women placing second with 87 points.

Junior Murielle Ahoure ran her first race of the 2008 season for the Patriot women's team and she began the year on the right note, qualifying provisionally for the NCAA Indoor Championships and also qualifying for the ECAC Championships in the 60-meter dash. Ahoure ran the fastest time of any athlete in the preliminary heats, crossing the finish line in 7.32 seconds.

Despite qualifying, Ahoure didn't race in the finals of the event. Teammate Marie Fields did; however, and she took first place with a time of 7.72 seconds to qualify for the ECAC Championships and set a new personal record. Freshman Britney Streeter (7.76) and junior Ryann Hendricks (7.97) finished third and fourth in the event, respectively.

Hampton, Va. native Tiara Swindell ran the 400-meter dash for the first time this season and finished second in the event, running a time of 56.86 seconds to top the ECAC qualifying standard and finish in second place. Swindell already qualified for the ECAC Championships in the 500-meter dash at Mason's last home meet, the Father Diamond Invitational, held on Jan. 5.

Sophomore Asia Odum also hit the ECAC qualifying standard at the meet with an impressive performance in the 60-meter hurdles. Odum finished second in the finals of the event to Howard's Alexandria Lemonious, crossing the finish line in 8.72 seconds. Lemonious clocked in at 8.67 seconds.

The Patriot women also fared well in the relays. The women's team won the 4x400-meter relay race with a time of 3:52.35, topping the ECAC qualifying standard of 3:53.94.

The men's team finished in first place on the strength of four first-place finishes - two individual and two by relay teams. The Patriots dominated the 400-meter dash, taking the top four spots in the race. Junior Mutsa Nyakabau took first place with a time of 50.18 seconds. He was followed, in order, by sophomore Marcus Wyche (50.72), senior MacGregor Lennarz (50.98) and junior Nate Harris (51.29).

In the 800-meter run, sophomore Matt Bailey crossed the finish line in first place with a time of 1:59.15. Teammate Erin McWhorter wasn't far behind, finishing third with a time of 2:00.14. The men's team also fared well in the relays, with the top team in both the 4x400-meter relay race and the 4x800-meter relay, which ran a time of 7:51.71, lower than the IC4A qualifying standard of 7:53.00.

Both the men's and women's teams will be in action again next weekend. The men's team will compete at the Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Feb. 2. The women's team will travel to University Park, Pa. to compete in the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup on Feb. 1-2.