FAIRFAX, Va. – The fireworks started on Friday night and carried over into Saturday as a successful weekend unfolded for the George Mason men's and women's track and field teams.

With reigning Atlantic 10 Conference indoor and outdoor high jump champ John Seals as the headliner, the men's team finished first while the women took second at the Patriot Games Invitational at the Field House. Competing for the first time in two weeks, a bevy of Patriots made waves and progress as the first month of the indoor track season concluded.

“Overall, I think (the meet) served its purpose well,” head coach Andrew Gerard said. “We wanted to come in and control what we wanted to get done – regardless of the level of competition. I think we did that. Sometimes when the level of competition wasn't there, people still ran well, people still executed what we asked them to do and got things done. We got some very, very solid performances out of people that we were really pleased with. We made some nice progress today.”

Participating in the heptathlon for the first time in his collegiate career, Seals stole the show on Friday night. The sophomore from West Springfield, Va., won the event with 5,152 points, which would have placed him in the top 20 in the country heading into the weekend.

But his performance in the high jump drew the most attention. In an intimate surrounding on a quiet Friday night with just the heptathlon and women's pentathlon, Seals wowed the crowd by clearing a personal-best 2.14 meters. Clearing the seven-foot mark ties him for the fourth-best leap in program history and, heading into this weekend, would have placed him in the top 25 in the nation.

“John was clearly on another level,” Gerard said. “That seven-foot barrier is a big one. We've had some very good high jumpers here – some Olympic Trial-type qualifiers. He is getting into that range. He has a lot of things still to work on and he is so raw… The future is really bright.”

Also on the men's side, sophomore Raeshawn Bishop set a personal-best in the long jump with a leap of 7.26 meters to take first. Junior Steven Flynn won the 3,000-meter run with a personal-best time of 8:17.68. Junior Adam LaFemina also set a personal-best with a time of 14:58.29 in the 5,000-meter run as the Patriots went 1-2-3 in the event. Grayson Morgan and Ethan Newland finished closed behind.

And the men capped off the night with a 1-2 finish in the 4x400-meter relay. The all-freshman team of Junias Agyei, Evander Pierre, Kornelius Klah and Rico Gomez finished first in a time of 3:18.45. They just nipped teammates Jordan May, Bernard Freeman, Austin Savage and Angel Coburn, who combined for a time of 3:18.67.

On the women's side, Sommer Sharpe and Sarah Moore finished first and second with times of 56.98 and 57.23, respectively, in the 400-meter dash. Lindsay Horton jumped past her personal-best in winning the pole vault with a leap of 3.85 meters. Also having success in the field events was Talisha Watts, who won the high jump with a mark of 1.71 meters.

Freshman Ciara Donohue also finished first in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:12.33. And, like the men, the women's 4x400-meter relay team ended the day with a victory. The team of Caela Williams, Moore, Ashley Lucas and Sharpe won the event in a time of 3:51.07.

Gerard also commended the efforts of Lucas in the 60-meter dash (fourth by tying her personal-best of 7.81) and Emily Muniz in the weight throw (fourth with a personal-best toss of 15.10 meters).

“We just had a lot of solid performances on the women's side so it is hard to single any one out,” Gerard said. “It was just a selection of good performances.”

Both teams hit the road next weekend to Boston for a split weekend. Several student-athletes will compete at the Crimson Elite Invitational at Harvard on Friday night, while some of those competitors along with more of the team will participate in the Scarlet & White Invitational at Boston University on Saturday.

“Track is a three-ring circus and that multiplies it – a three-ring circus at two different venues on two different days,” Gerard said. “So it will be a little bit of craziness next week but I think it should be a good opportunity, a higher level of competition, a little more challenging. It will be a bigger stage, bigger opportunity to continue our progress.”