Two George Mason track and field athletes qualified for the
NCAA Championships on Friday as sophomore David Verburg finished seventh in the
400 meters and junior Lavell Handy finished fifth in the triple jump during
competition at the NCAA East Preliminary Round at Indiana University. They will
join Mandissa Marshall, who qualified in the pole vault on Thursday, in heading
to Drake University in two weeks to compete for individual national titles.
Verburg ran the 400 meters in 46.13 seconds, the
tenth-fastest time in school history. He won his heat in the opening round on
Thursday and finished third in his heat on Saturday. Handy earned a spot at the
NCAA meet by leaping 15.75 meters. That jump came on his sixth and final
attempt. His previous best jump of 15.51 meters, which came on his first jump,
would have left him in 12th, which still would have qualified him
for the NCAA meet. Dwight Webley also competed in the triple jump but finished
21st with a top mark of 15.07 meters.
Also on Friday, freshman Adrian Vaughn finished 13th
in the first round of the 200 meters, earning a spot in Saturday's semifinals.
Vaughn posted a time of 21.24 seconds. Also competing in the event was Rachaunn
Ruffin, who finished 30th with a time of 21.65.
Two other Mason student-athletes competed on Friday as Tyler
Golden was 22nd in the 800 meters with a time of 1:52.59 and Grace
Mavugara competed in the triple jump, fouling on all three of her jumps.
