George Mason women's track and field came in at 14th in the initial outdoor USTFCCCA Southeastern Region following a busy weekend of outdoor competition.
Friday night, senior Bethany Sachtleben broke a school record set 23 years ago, finishing the 10,000m run in 33:32.53 at the Stanford Invitational. Sachtelben's time puts her at first in the Atlantic 10 and 11th in the nation. Juniors Lindsay Horton and Michelle Wallerstedt led the way as the Patriots also competed at the Colonial Relays and Florida Relays.
Horton took the top spot in the women's pole vault with a personal record mark of 3.95m and Wallerstedt also recorded a personal best with a distance of 51.21m in the discus throw in a fifth place finish at the Florida Relays.
Freshman Taylor Sharpe continued her promising season, setting a personal record in the 400m (54.21m) while senior Shavon Briscoe ran a season-best 13.56 in the 100m high hurdles, both at the Florida Relays. Two-sport senior Talisha Watts and sophomore Nhautry Brown didn't miss a beat in their first competitions of the season. Watts,a former Mason women's basketball player, finished sixth in the high jump at the Colonial Relays with a mark of 1.65m. Brown, competing for the first time this season, tabbed a distance of 11.92m in the triple jump at the Florida Relays.
In addition to the individual accomplishments, the Patriots had three women's relay teams qualify for ECAC's in the 4x100m, 4x400m and 4x800m races while the men's squad picked a 4x100m relay qualifier with the 4x400m and 4x800m relay times in the bag from the indoor campaign.
Mason returns to action Saturday, April 11 when they host the Mason Spring Invitational at George Mason Stadium.
