May 28, 2009
2009 NCAA East Regional Track and Field Championships Schedule
The George Mason track and field team will have five entries competing for a chance at a national championship as the 2009 NCAA East Regional Championships get underway on Friday and Saturday at the Irwin Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro.
For the men, three individuals will compete for a spot in the NCAA Championships, to be contested in June at Fayetteville, Ark. Freshman Rachaunn Ruffin is a double-qualifier, as he earned a spot in both the 100-meter and 200-meter events. In the 100, Ruffin's time of 10.34 at the CAA Championships eclipsed the qualifying standard, while his mark of 20.77 in the Florida Relays gave him a berth in the 200. Junior Sam Horn will race in the 800-meter run after earning a spot with his time of 1:49.29 at the IC4A Championships.
Finally, the Patriots will have an entry in the men's 4x400-meter relay, after winning the event at the CAA Championships and earning an automatic qualification. Marcus Wyche, Horn, Kevin Wilson, Tyler Golden and Tom Troxell comprise the line-up from which four athletes and one alternate will race in the final event of the meet, beginning at 8:20 p.m. on Saturday evening.
The preliminaries of the men's 100-meter dash are set for 6:20 p.m. Friday, with the finals scheduled for 6:10 p.m. on Saturday. Friday's 200-meter dash prelims are scheduled for 9:00 p.m. on the men's side, with the finals at 7:05 p.m. Saturday. The men's 800-meter run prelims will be contested at 7:40 p.m. Friday and the finals are set for 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.
On the women's side, senior Ryann Hendricks and junior Tiara Swindell will represent Mason. Hendricks will compete in both the long jump and triple jump, while Swindell earned a spot in the 400-meter dash with her time of 54.20 at the ECAC Championships.
Hendricks met the NCAA regional qualifying standard in both of her events at the CAA Championships, recording distances of 6.09 meters in the long jump and 12.66 meters in the triple jump at that competition, in which she received Co-Most Outstanding Women's Field Performer of the Meet honors.
The women's 400 preliminaries are scheduled for 6:40 p.m. on Friday, with the finals a day later at 6:15 p.m. The women's long jump champion will be decided beginning at 1 p.m. Friday, while the triple jump will be occurring on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
The top five finishers in each event will move on to compete at the NCAA Championships, which will be hosted by the University of Arkansas from June 10-13.
