Fairfax, Va. – George Mason University's men's and women's track and field teams won seven events and recorded eight top-three finishes at the Father Diamond Invitational on Saturday, which opened their 2016 indoor season.

Senior pole vaulter Lindsay Horton (3.90 m), sophomore long jumper Raeshawn Bishop (7.41 m) and graduate high jumper Talisha Watts (1.73 m) recorded new personal records to win their respective events and sophomore high jumper John Seals, who won the 2015 Atlantic 10 Conference title, tied his personal record with 2.09 m to start the season with a win as well. Senior thrower Michelle Wallerstedt (15.20 m) and junior distance runner Steven Flynn (4:23.01) came on top in the the women's weight throw and the men's one-mile run, respectively. Flynn also helped juniors Austin Savage and Logan Miller and sophomore Nathan Schulte to the triumph in the 4x800-meter relay with a total time of 7:58.80.

Freshman sprinter Evander Pierce had a memorable debut as a Patriot and made it all the way to the 200 m dash finals, where he finished second – only eight hundredths behind the winner – in a dramatic race. Junior Bernard Freeman grabbed the second place in the 400 m dash after a similar experience after being beat by less than half of a second. Junior multi-event competitor Trip Chewning fell five centimeters short of his personal record in the pole vault event, but still came out with a second place.

In other significant opening day results, Schulte (second – 2:33.62) and Adam (third – 2:33.82) finished back-to-back in the 1,000 m run, Flynn finished third in the 3,000 m run (8:45.65), while freshmen Xavier King, Junias Agyei, Kornelius Klah and Sarah Moore, sophomores Sharon Dorsey and Ashley Lucas, and juniors Jordan May and Caela Williams helped Mason's men's and women's A squads to third places in the 4x400 m relays.

NEXT ON THE TRACK

In a week, the teams will travel north to Staten Island, N.Y. to participate in the Great Dane Invitational.