May 1, 2009
The George Mason track and field team will play host to its lone home meet of the 2009 outdoor season on Saturday as the Mason Outdoor Invitational will take place, beginning at 12 p.m. at George Mason Stadium. Admission to the meet is free.
As the host, Mason will look to add to its sizeable list of outdoor qualifiers for the upcoming IC4A/ECAC Championships as well as the NCAA East Regional Championships. On the men's side, the Patriots have already numbered 14 qualifications for the IC4A meet while three entrants have met the standard for the NCAA regionals.
Three individual men have a pair of marks that earned them a spot in the IC4A Championships. Freshman Rachaunn Ruffin has earned a pair of NCAA regional and IC4A qualifications, with his times of 10.34 in the 100-meter dash and 20.77 in the 200-meter dash. Fellow freshman Ja-Vell Bullard met the mark with his indoor time of 21.68 in the 200-meter dash in January, while his time of 47.04 in the 400-meter dash at April's CAA Championships met both the IC4A and NCAA regional standards.
In field events, sophomore Dwight Webley met the IC4A standards in both the long and triple jumps, thanks to his work during the indoor season as he registered distances of 15.09 meters and 7.50 meters in those events, respectively.
Five other individuals have earned spots in the IC4A meet for the men's team: freshman Everett Hackett (5,000-meter run; 14:26.18), freshman LaVell Handy (triple jump; 15.06m), junior Sam Horn (800-meter run; 1:51.17); junior Michael Pachella (800; 1:50.05), and sophomore Kevin Wilson (400-meter run; 47.49). Three men's relays made the cut as well, including the 4x100-meter relay of junior Marcus Wyche, Ruffin, freshman Bruce Ideozu and Webley (41.31), the 4x400-meter relay of Wilson, Wyche, Horn and Bullard (3:12.71), and the 4x800-meter relay of freshman Parker Boudreau, Pachella, Horn, and junior Anthony LaMastro (7:33.63).
On the women's side, 10 Mason entries will have a spot reserved in the ECAC Championships, led by the double-qualifiers of senior Ryann Hendricks, sophomore Chia Hudson, and junior Tiara Swindell. Hendricks earned spots in the ECAC and NCAA regional meets with her marks in the long and triple jump of 6.09 meters and 12.66 meters, respectively. Hudson met the standard in the 100-meter hurdles (14.18) and the long jump (5.89m), while Swindell's times of 24.62 in the 200 and 54.77 in the 400 surpassed the qualifier.
Mason also has qualifiers in junior Marie Fields (200; 24.60), freshman Grace Mavugara (triple jump; 12.43m), sophomore Asia Odum (100H; 14.12), and the 4x400-meter relay of senior Crystal Lawrence, Fields, Swindell and junior Latasha Rivers (3:45.33).
