May 15, 2008

2008 IC4A/ECAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships Schedule

This weekend, a total of 12 George Mason student-athletes, along with five relay teams, will compete among the best in the region in the 2008 IC4A and ECAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will be contested from Friday to Sunday at the William Weaver Track and Field Stadium in Princeton, N.J. The Mason men will send six individuals and three relays to the meet, hosted by Princeton University, while the women's team will be represented by five Patriots and two relay teams.

On the men's side, the Patriots will compete in eight events: the 800-meter and 1,500-meter runs, the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles, and the long and triple jumps. In addition, Mason will send teams in the 4x100-meter, 4x200-meter, and 4x400-meter relays.

In the field events, both junior Ryan McCoy and freshman Dwight Webley will look to claim the IC4A title in the long and triple jumps. McCoy's longest distances of the season both came at the Patriot Open Invitational on May 3, as he recorded marks of 7.15m and 15.66m in the long and triple jumps, respectively. Webley holds the highest distance by a Mason athlete in the long jump, as he earned the Colonial Athletic Association title with a 7.26m mark on April 19 in Williamsburg. Webley also recorded a second-place, NCAA regional qualifying mark of 15.11m in the triple jump at the conference championships.

Sophomore Michael Pachella will compete in the 800-meter race, as he qualified with a time of 1:51.11 at the Raleigh Relays in late March. In the 1,500-meter, two Patriots will represent the Green and Gold. Senior John Crain set a new personal-best with a 3:50.75 mark at the Patriot Open Invitational, and sophomore Sam Horn earned a berth with his 3:51.79 time at the CAA Championships.

In the hurdles events, senior Brian Hay and junior Mark Harris will participate in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles, respectively. Hay, a nine-time IC4A qualifier, earned a berth in this weekend's meet as well as the NCAA East Regionals with a 14.30 time at the Raleigh Relays, while Harris completed the 400-meter event in 53.51 at the Florida Relays on April 5. Junior Mutsa Nyakabau, who qualified in the 400-meter hurdles at the Raleigh Relays with a time of 53.37, will not race due to an injury.

On the women's side, junior triple qualifier Murielle Ahoure headlines the five individuals who will try for an ECAC title. The Patriots will compete in six individual events: the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter runs, the 100-meter hurdles, and the long and triple jumps. Mason will also compete in the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays.

Ahoure, a seven-time ECAC champion, will compete in the 100, 200, and 400. Two of her qualifying times, the 100-meter (11.56) and 200-meter (23.58), came in gold-medal performances at the CAA Championships, where she was named Outstanding Female Track Performer of the Meet. She also earned a berth in the 400 with a time of 54.77 at the Onesty/Abramson Invitational in Charlottesville on April 12. Sophomore Tiara Swindell will join Ahoure in the 200 and 400, as she qualified in both those events. Swindell ran 24.22 at the Colonial Relays on April 5, and recorded a personal-best with a NCAA regional qualifying 54.60 time in the 400 at the Patriot Open Invitational. Classmate Asia Odum will represent the Patriots in the 100-meter hurdles, as her personal-best time of 14.20 at the Hurricane Invitational on March 22 earned her a spot in this weekend's field.

In the long and triple jumps, Mason will send both junior Ryann Hendricks and freshman Chia Hudson. Hendricks, who was named Outstanding Female Field Performer of the CAA Championships, won the long jump with a 5.96-meter distance as well as the triple jump with a mark of 12.48 meters. Hudson earned a spot in the meet with distances of 5.88m and 12.19m at the CAA Championships and the Patriot Open Invitational, respectively.

Mason will have two entries in the 4x400-meter relay, as sophomores Marie Fields and Latasha Rivers, and junior Crystal Lawrence will compete with both Ahoure and Swindell as the anchors. Hendricks, Swindell, Fields and Ahoure will comprise Mason's 4x100-meter relay team.

The championships will begin on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. with the men's decathlon. However, Mason will not compete until Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m., when the ECAC 4x100-meter relay trials will be held. Action will conclude with the IC4A 4x400-meter relay on Sunday afternoon, set for 3:05 p.m.