The Hokie Invitational concluded on Saturday afternoon and
it was a busy and successful day for the George Mason track and field teams as
five individuals and two teams qualified for the IC4A/ECAC Championships.
On the men's side, Kevin Wilson qualified in the 400-meters
when he finished ninth with a time of 48.78. Wilson had previously qualified in
the 500-meters. In the 200-meters, Nick Vaughn and Ja-Vell Bullard qualified
finishing 10th and 11th, respectively, with times of
21.80 and 21.81. David Verburg was 19th in 22.27, just .03 shy of
the qualifying time.
David Rushing qualified in the 1000-meters with a
sixth-place finish of 2:28.94. He joined teammate Chris Carrington who had
previously qualified in the event. Carrington, Anthony LaMastro, Wilson and
Parker Boudreau ran the distance medley relay in 9:55.31, good for second
place. Mason's B team of Rushing, Tyler Golden, Robert Reynolds and Nathaniel
Darling were eighth in the same event with a time of 10:16.03, also better than
the IC4A qualifying time.
Dwight Webley, who
previously qualified in the triple jump, will also compete in the long jump as
he was eighth with a leap of 7.07 meters. The men's 4X400 which qualified in
the season-opening Father Diamond Invitational improved on its qualifying time
coming in third in 3:12.78.
On the women's side, Victoria Samyn, Shantel Miles, Samantha
Fickel and Rochelle Sceats ran the distance medley in a fifth-place time of
12:03.41. In the pole vault, Mandissa Marshall who had qualified for the ECAC
two weeks ago again surpassed the qualifying mark again, this time clearing
3.72 meters, good for a ninth-place tie.
Other strong finishes on the women's side included Elizabeth
Smith who was fifth in the 5000-meters with a time of 19:36.25 and Dominique
Graham, who tied for sixth in the high jump with a leap of 1.64 meters.
The Patriots will be in action again next Saturday when they
host the Patriot Games, one of three home indoor meets this year.
