Hurricane Invitational: Results
VCU Ram Invite: Results
Tribe Open: Results
FAIRFAX, Va. – Spread across two states at three meets nearly a thousand miles apart, the George Mason men's and women's track and field teams got off to a strong start during the first weekend of the outdoor season.
The Patriots split up and competed at the Hurricane Invitational in Miami, the Tribe Open at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., and the VCU Ram Invite in Richmond, Va.., finishing up at all three meets on Saturday.
“Overall, it was a very encouraging opening weekend,” head coach Andrew Gerard said. “While we were spread over three different venues, each group got a lot of positive things accomplished and competed very well at their respective meets. Suffice to say, this weekend set the bar high for the upcoming weekends in terms of performances.”
In Miami, the Patriots sent their sprinters, hurdlers and long and triple jumpers to compete in warmer weather. Mason was one of 12 schools to compete in the non-team scoring meet, with the field including Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston University and Florida International.
On the women's side, Sharon Dorsey and Sarah Moore led the way with a 1-2 finish in the 400-meter dash. Dorsey won the race with a personal-best time of 55.78 and Moore was right behind in 55.85. In the triple jump, Nhautrey Brown finished first with a personal-best tying leap of 39 feet and 9 ¾ inches.
On the men's side, Ayodeji Raymond ran a personal-best time of 10.48 in the 100-meter dash to finish first among collegiate athletes. Angel Coburn won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.51 and Jordan May and Kornelius Klah finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Klah, a freshman, also took second in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.83.
The 4x400-meter relay team of May, Bernard Freeman, Evander Pierre and Rico Gomez took first with a time of 3:19.30, winning by two seconds.
At William & Mary, the Patriots sent their distance runners and multi-event athletes. On the women's side, graduate student Talisha Watts won the high jump with a leap of 1.65 meters. Shelby Garnand won the javelin with a personal-best toss of 38.24 meters.
Freshman Ciara Donohue finished third in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:57.97. In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Jennifer Nakamura and Amber Hawkins placed second and third, respectively. Nakamura posted a time of 11:32.08 and Hawkins finished in 11:43.92. The 4x400-meter relay team of Suzanne Abribat, Donohue, Caitlin Kelly and Siobhan Klie took third with a time of 4:16.45. Garnand and Lindsay Horton tied for third in the pole vault, both clearing 3.45 meters.
On the men's side, Nathan Schulte finished first in the 1,500-meter run with a personal-best time of 4:03.08. Freshman Paul Adam and Trent Lancaster finished 1-2 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Adam finished with a time of 9:32.84 and Lancaster finished in 9:52.13. Freshman Luke Sommer also got his first outdoor season off to a good start with a first-place finish with a leap of 1.86 meters.
Steven Flynn took second in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:21.76. In the pole vault, Logan Besougloff also placed second with a personal-best tying mark of 4.70 meters.
Finally, both teams sent their throwers to the VCU Ram Invite. On the men's side, Jared Lewis captured first place in the shot put with a throw of 13.32 meters. Ryan Williams also won the javelin throw with a personal-best heave of 52.08 meters. Garrett Friendy and Williams took second and third, respectively, in the discus. For the women, freshman Rachel Forder placed third in the discus with a toss of 46.22 meters.
The Patriots will split up again next weekend with some athletes competing at the Fred Hardy Invitational back in Richmond, Va., and others participating in the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C.
