April 29, 2010
Watch Coach Gerard and Coach Ewell's Video Preview of the CAA Championships
2010 CAA Track & Field Championships Central
USTFCCA Regional Track & Field Rankings By Team
The Colonial Athletic Association Track and Field Championships return to Fairfax as George Mason will host the annual meet, beginning Friday at 9 a.m., kicking off two full days of action at George Mason Stadium.
Admission to the meet is free, and GoMason.com will have live results at the link above. Mason last hosted the CAA Championships in 2005, and this weekend will mark the fifth-ever turn as host for the Patriots.
The action kicks off with the men's and women's javelin on Friday morning, followed by the pole vault, hammer throw and long jump in the afternoon session. On the track, trials begin at 1 p.m. with the 1,500 meter race. The first individual champions will be crowned Friday evening with the running of the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races.
The Patriots will look to improve on a pair of top-five team finishes at last year's meet, hosted by Towson. Mason's men's squad finished fourth while the women were fifth, as UNC Wilmington and William & Mary captured those respective titles.
In program history, both squads have combined for 14 CAA titles, 10 for the women while Mason has four men's championships. Mason is ranked 15th among men's teams in the southeast region while the women are 18th in the rankings.
Mason has already had a strong outdoor season, with the men's team earning 27 total IC4A qualifications, including two in each of the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays as well as the 4x800-meter relay last week at the Penn Relays. Among the athletes highlighting the action for Mason is sophomore Rachaunn Ruffin, winner of the 100- and 200-meter dash titles in his freshman season.
Ruffin set a meet record in the 100 with his winning time of 10.34. The Patriot men earned three other 2009 CAA event championships, with Ja-Vell Bullard set to defend his 400-meter title while Sam Horn won the 800-meter run. Finally, the 4x400-meter relay was victorious a year ago.
On the women's side, the Patriots number 14 ECAC qualifiers and will look to surpass their performance a year ago at CAAs, as former Mason jumper Ryann Hendricks won the lone title in the triple jump. Among the performers to keep an eye on is senior Tiara Swindell and freshman Cierra McGee, who rank sixth and seventh in the region with their 400-meter dash times of 54.00 and 54.33. Mason's 4x400-meter relay of senior Latasha Rivers, McGee, senior Marie Fields and Swindell ranks fifth in the region with their mark of 3:36.98.
The weekend meet is the final home competition for the Patriots this season, as up next will be the IC4A/ECAC Championships from May 14-16 at Princeton University.
