Jan. 3, 2008
FAIRFAX, Va. -
The George Mason women's track and field team enters the 2008 season with a deep and talented roster that will hope to bring the Patriots their first team title at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships since the 1998 season. With the team returning three individual champions from last year's meet in junior Murielle Ahoure, junior Ryann Hendricks and sophomore Tiara Swindell, Mason figures to be a major player in the team scoring at the championship meet.
Ahoure will once again lead the way in the sprint events. After an impressive freshman season in 2006, the Bristow, Va. native cemented herself among the all-time greats at George Mason last year, setting school records in the 55- and 300-meter dash indoors and the 100-meter dash during the outdoor season. She earned her first All-America honor in the 60-meter dash during the indoor season and became the first George Mason athlete to win a regional title in any event when she won the 100-meter dash at the NCAA East Regional Championships in Gainesville, Fla. with a school record time of 11.28 seconds.
Ahoure was well on her way to achieving All-America status during the outdoor season as well, but was slowed by a hamstring injury that rendered her unable to compete at the meet. While returning to form after the injury will certainly motivate Ahoure as she heads into the upcoming season, qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China serves as an even greater motivating factor for the junior.
"The fact that this is an Olympic year and her primary goal is to make an Olympic team, her motivation is to perform at a level where she can see herself competing in the Olympic Games," said head coach Angie Taylor. "That should be every young athlete's aspiration to one day make an Olympic team and represent her country. I think her chances are very high."
Also returning to the Patriots for her junior season will be Ryann Hendricks, the team's top performer in the jumps for the past two seasons, who will again anchor the team in the jumps. Last year, she earned her first berth to the regional meet when she jumped 12.33 meters in the triple jump at the CAA Championships to capture the title. She also finished fifth in the long jump at the conference championship meet. Heading into her third year at Mason, Hendricks appears poised to take the next step and qualify for the national championship meet.
"Ryann is so far ahead of where she was last year," Taylor said. "I think that Coach Katrina Allen, her jumps coach, has really given her so much more confidence in herself that we'll see her definitely being able to compete on the national level. She's always been that type of an athlete but now with the confidence I think that she'll start to show it more because she's always had the ability."
Returning for her sophomore year will be Tiara Swindell, who had a phenomenal season as a freshman, becoming the third consecutive Patriot athlete to capture CAA Rookie of the Year honors, duplicating a feat achieved by Ahoure in 2006 and Fiana York in 2005. Swindell was one of only four freshmen to compete at the NCAA East Regional Championships in the 400-meter dash. She qualified for the ECAC Championships in both the 200- and 400-meter dash and was stellar at the CAA Championships in both events, capturing the title in the 400-meter dash and finishing third in the 200-meter dash. With that type of experience under her belt already, Taylor expects great things out of the Hampton, Va. native in her sophomore season. In addition to running the 200- and the 400-meter dash races, Swindell will also run the 800 this year.
"She's looking very strong and very fit," Taylor said. "She's going to have huge improvements and also be on that national level. She's shown a jump in her physical training in the fall season."
While the trio of Ahoure, Hendricks and Swindell has high expectations of performing at the national level, the Patriots return a number of athletes with experience that will help bolster the team in its quest for a conference title.
A young team, Mason has two seniors on this year's squad in Melissa Ferry and Danielle Turner. After finishing with the second fastest time on the team during the cross country season, Ferry will contribute to the team in the middle distances races during the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons. Turner's contributions will be key in the distance events, as the team's depth isn't as strong in the longer distance events as it is in some other areas.
The team has two other upperclassmen returning to the team in juniors Jonecia Gates and Crystal Lawrence. A versatile athlete, Gates competed in the heptathlon at last year's CAA Championships. While she will be expected to show her versatility again this season, Gates will focus on competing in the 400-meter hurdles. Lawrence will help provide depth in the sprints for the Patriots.
Aside from Swindell, the team has four sophomores that will hope to propel the Patriots to the top of the conference meet. Marie Fields and Latasha Rivers will contribute in the sprints. Asia Odum was the team's top short hurdler last season and is expected to be a major factor in those events once again. Amy Yocum is expected to perform well in the middle distance events. She recorded the team's top times in both the 800- and 1500-meter races during last year's outdoor season, and finished fifth at the CAA Championships in the 1500-meter run last season.
A total of 10 newcomers will join the Patriots this season. Highlighting this talented group will be Jenn Bailey, a freshman from New Windsor, N.Y., who will give the team a strong presence
in the throwing events that it lacked last season. Bailey will specialize in the discus and Taylor is excited about the potential she has seen from Bailey during the fall.
"Jenn is a freshman who shows great promise," Taylor said. "Her training has been phenomenal. She is really going to shine and be a big contributor for us this season."
Bailey is not the only thrower the Patriots have added to the team. Julie Tripson, a junior from Pittsburgh, Pa., will also specialize in that area for Mason. Bailey and Tripson have really been pushing each other to new heights in training throughout the fall.
Another freshman with great potential is Samantha Fickel, from Cumberland Valley High School in Carlisle, Pa., who was the team's top runner during the cross country season. Fickel ran three of the team's top five times during the season and was the top finisher at four meets. Taylor expects her to be the team's top 1500-meter runner during the track and field season.
Bolstering the team in the short hurdles will be freshman Chia Hudson, who joins the Patriots from The Harvey School in Cornwall, N.Y. During her high school career, Hudson won New York State Championships in the 100-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump. While Hudson's focus will be the short hurdles, she will also compete in the sprints and jumping events.
"Chia is going to be a phenomenal student-athlete here at Mason," Taylor said. "She's been showing such great promise in practice, and is a woman who's not afraid to step up and be a leader at such a young age in terms of how she practices. She's going to be one of those athletes that will qualify for the ECAC Championships, probably provisionally qualify for the National Championships, and will definitely be a contributor at our conference championship meet."
Rounding out the newcomers to the team are sophomore Samantha Bradley, from Grafton High School in Yorktown, Va.; freshman Kiara Branch, from Armstrong High School in Richmond, Va.; Katherine Griffith, a local product from Seton School in Haymarket, Va.; Symone O'Connor, from Franklin High School in Somerset, N.J.; Stephanie Randolph, from State College Area High School in State College, Pa.; and Britney Streeter, from Miami Northwestern High School in Miami Gardens, Fla.
The indoor track and field season begins on Jan. 5, 2008 when the Patriots host the Father Diamond Invitational at the Fieldhouse. The ECAC Indoor Championships will be held on March 8-9 in Boston, Mass. and the NCAA Indoor Championships will be held on March 14-15 in Fayetteville, Ark. In addition to the Father Diamond Invitational, Mason will host two more meets during the indoor track and field season - the Patriot Games on Jan. 26 and the Mason Last Chance on March 2. The Patriots will host only one meet during the outdoor season, the Mason Outdoor Invitational on May 3.
Mason will begin its outdoor track and field season on March 22 at the Hurricane Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla. The CAA Championships will be held on April 18-19 at William and Mary. The ECAC Outdoor Championships are slated for May 16-18 in Princeton, N.J., with the NCAA East Regional Championships scheduled for May 30-31 in Tallahassee, Fla. and the NCAA Outdoor Championships set for June 11-14 in Des Moines, Iowa. Since this is an Olympic year, the USA Track and Field Olympic Trials are scheduled for June 27-July 6 in Eugene, Ore. for the right to compete in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.
