NEW ORLEANS, La. - The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its All-America honorees for the 2012 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field season on Tuesday, and George Mason had five individuals honored.

Junior sprinter David Verburg took home First Team All-America honors in the 400m dash, and was joined by senior Ja-Vell Bullard, junior George Empty and senior Nick Vaughn as first team honorees in the 4x400m relay. The other individual honored was senior Lavell Handy, who collected Second Team All-America accolades in the long jump.  

"We are very pleased to have returned from the NCAA Championships with such a high percentage of our athletes having achieving at such a high level," said Head Coach Andrew Gerard. "Their recognition as All-Americans only goes to underline the success we had and is a nice capstone to all of the hard work and effort they put in this season."

Verburg, who advanced to the 400m finals after winning his heat during the first day of competition, crossed the finish line in a time of 45.22 to finish in fourth place. He then teamed with Vaughn, Empty and Bullard to finish in seventh place in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:03.93. Handy recorded a distance of 7.65m in his second of three jumps in the long jump to help advance him to the finals of the event. However, he was unable to top that mark in his three jumps of the finals as he finished the competition in ninth place.

Honors were awarded for performances at the final site of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships occurring the previous weekend in Des Moines, Iowa. First Team USTFCCCA All-America honors were awarded to those who earned any portion of a team point at the national championships, or reached an eight-entrant final. Second Team All-America honors were handed out to those whose final placing in the national meet range from ninth to 16th place. You can view the entire list of winners, listed by school, here.