KINGSTON, R.I. – Dominant performances in field events and sprint events amounted to a banner weekend for the George Mason men's and women's track and field teams.

The Patriots captured nine individual conference championships and one title in the relays in a strong showing at the Atlantic 10 Conference Indoor Championships on Saturday and Sunday at the University of Rhode Island.

Led by six individual championships, the Mason men finished second, just four points behind champion Rhode Island. The Patriot women also impressed, taking third place in the team results thanks to three individual crowns and a winning performance in the 4x400-meter relay.

The Mason men and women won six field events, sweeping the pole vault and triple jump, and junior Bernard Freeman won the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes, catapulting him to Men's Most Outstanding Track Performer honors. Head coach Andrew Gerard was named the A-10 Men's Coach of the Year.

“I think the men competed tremendously well,” Gerard said. “We were pleased with how it all went. Every team has little setbacks here and there, but, by and large, we were very pleased with the whole setup right down to the end… The women did a great job. They scored a handful more points (a total of 106) than we thought was possible. Even given the ebb and flow of a normal meet where you win some, you lose some our women still came out on the plus side. They scrapped. They found ways to score. They leaned at the line and got the extra point here or there. I'm really proud of how they competed.”

On the men's side, Freeman and John Seals scored more points than any competitors at the meet with 21 points each.

“We had the top two point getters in the whole meet,” Gerard said. “Bernard got the nod because he won two events but John won the high jump and also placed in the long jump and hurdles. Bottom line, those two guys contributed a good chunk.”

Freeman tied an A-10 meet record in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.85. He then defended his A-10 championship in the 200-meter dash, winning for the second year in a row with a time of 21.65. He also contributed to the 4x400-meter relay team that took fourth.

Seals also defended his A-10 crown, once again prevailing in the high jump with a mark of 2.10 meters. The sophomore has won all three A-10 high jump championships – indoor and outdoor – in his collegiate career. He also placed third in the 60-meter hurdles and fourth in the long jump.

Jimi Tele made it three repeat champions on the men's side for Mason as he captured the triple jump championship for the second straight year. The senior, who also won A-10 outdoors last year, finished first with a leap of 14.88 meters.

Steven Flynn joined the championship club with his first A-10 crown by winning the 3,000-meter run. The junior finished five hundredths of a second off his personal record with a time of 8:24.38.
For the women, 2015 A-10 indoor and outdoor pole vault champ Lindsay Horton added to her string of titles. She tied her personal best by clearing 3.80 meters.

Junior Nhautrey Brown collected her first indoor conference title by winning the triple jump with a leap of 12.23 meters. It is her second league championship after winning the triple jump in outdoors last year.

Chantel Richardson provided a pleasant surprise by winning the long jump with a mark of 5.87 meters. The junior captured the A-10 indoor and outdoor titles in the long jump in 2014 but had been plagued by injury last year and got off to a slow start this year.

“For her to be able to come up and win it the way she did was, again, an example of the ladies stepping up and really rising to the occasion,” Gerard said.

Capping off the day and the weekend was a victorious 4x400-meter relay team. The combination of Sharon Dorsey, Sarah Moore, Caela Williams and Sommer Sharpe finished first with a time of 3:47.33.

The women finished with 106 points, behind champion Massachusetts (123) and Rhode Island (116). The men, for the second straight year, lost to Rhode Island by just four points. The Rams had 188.666 while the Patriots finished with 184.833.

Mason continues the indoor season this weekend by returning to home to host the Last Chance meet on Sunday at the Field House.