George Mason track and field opened its outdoor season with athletes competing at both the Tribe Invitational at William and Mary and the VCU Invitational at VCU Friday and Saturday.
The athletes competing at the VCU invitational combined to take third overall in the men's competition and fourth overall in the women's.
Senior Taylor Wheaton led the way for the women, taking the top overall spot in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.08, moving her to sixth on Mason's top-10 All-Time list. Junior Shavon Briscoe finished third overall and first amongst collegiate competitors in the 100m (12.18) and 200m (24.78) with senior Dominique Graham coming in right behind her in the 200m with a time of 25.02. Sophomore Kiya Day set a personal record as she finished second in the women's 400m hurdles in a time of 1:05.22.
Mason women also took first and third in the women's 4x400m relay with a team of Daianna Barron, Jasmie Robinson, Wheaton and Briscoe finishing first (3:49.44) and the team of Graham, Aneesha Scott, Caela Williams and Day coming in third (3:52.45).
The Patriots performed well in the field events as well with Michelle Wallerstedt taking first in discus with a mark of 45.87. (153'9”) and freshman Junei Moslley coming in second in the triple jump with a distance of 11.32m (37' 1.75”).
On the men's side the Patriots earned two top finishes in the field events with,Byron Sintim took first in the long jump with a mark of 7.22m (23' 8.25”) and Jason Wellington taking first in the hammer with a mark of 51.10m (167' 8”), setting a new own personal and school record. Jimi Tele earned second in the triple jump with a distance of 14.34, (47' 0.75”).
On the track, freshman Bernard Freeman finished third in the 200m with a time of 22.24 in his first collegiate outdoor meet. George Empty took second overall in the 400m hurdles, with a time of 53.38. DeQuan Smalls finished third in the 400m dash setting a new personal record with a time of 49.53.
The men's relay teams also performed well. The team of Ayo Raymond, Smalls, Taylor Sykes and Walter Mitchell taking the third in the 4x100m while Mason took the top two spots in the 4x400m relay. The team of Angel Coburn, Freeman, Empty and Smalls took first with a time of 3:13.23 and the team of Zameir Johnson, Jordan May, Sykes and Walter Mitchell.
At the Tribe Invitational, Bethany Sachtleben took the top spot in the 3,000m run in a time of 9:54.14, over 10 seconds faster than the next competitor. The men's distance athletes Craig Morgan also started his senior outdoor season with a win, taking the top spot in the men's 1,500m run with a time of 3:55.81.
Mason took the second spot in both the men's and women's pole vault as sophomore Lindsay Horton finished with a height of 3.40 and senior Wes Sun with a mark of 4.90m.
Next up, the Patriots head to the Raleigh Relays at NC State March 28 and 29.
