Seven to Represent Patriots at NCAA East Preliminary Championships

George Mason Athletics Men's Track & Field 5/19/2016 3:59:00 PM

FAIRFAX, Va. – The outdoor track season will carry on for seven members of the George Mason men's and women's track and field teams.

On Thursday, the NCAA released the declarations for the NCAA East Preliminary Championships, which will be held on May 26-28 in Jacksonville, Fla. On the men's side, the Patriots will send Ayo Raymond (100 meters), Bernard Freeman (200 meters), Angel Coburn (400-meter hurdles), Steven Flynn (5,000 meters) and John Seals (high jump). Sommer Sharpe (400-meter hurdles) and Talisha Watts (high jump) will represent the women's team.

The top 48 declared student-athletes per region were selected into individual events, with the top 24 relay teams in each region earning entry. The top 12 finishers in each event from each of the NCAA East and West Preliminary Championships advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on June 8-11 in Eugene, Ore.

All five qualifiers on Mason's men's team have competed in the NCAA East Preliminary at least once.

Coburn is making his fourth trip to the regional. He qualified with the 4x400-meter relay team the last three years (making it to the national championship in 2013 and 2014). This year, he is competing individually after qualifying in the 400-meter hurdles. The senior from Orlando ran a personal-best 52.15 seconds to place fourth at the Atlantic 10 Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships two weeks ago.

Freeman, the A-10 Track Performer of the Year in both indoor and outdoor this season, will make his second appearance at the NCAA East Preliminary. He competed in the 200-meter dash and the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays last year. The junior from Raleigh, N.C., won the gold medal in the 200 at the A-10 Championships. He qualified for the East Preliminary back in March with a time of 21.03 at the Miami Hurricane Invitational.

Raymond also competed in the 2015 East Preliminary, joining Freeman on the 4x100-meter relay team. Raymond, a junior from Bowie, Md., is also coming off a first-place finish at the 2016 A-10 Championships, winning the 100-meter dash. He qualified this year with a time of 10.48.

Flynn also grabbed gold at the A-10 Championships, winning the 5,000-meter run. The junior from Edison, N.J., posted his qualifying time of 13:55.26, which broke the school record, at the Raleigh Relays in March. His time seeds him at 13th in the event. This will be his second appearance at the East Preliminary, after qualifying last year in the 1,500-meter run.

Seals, a sophomore from Springfield, Va., is also back at the East Preliminary for the second straight season. He qualified with a jump of 2.11 meters at the Colonial Relays last month. He took second at the A-10 Championships two weeks ago.

On the women's side, Sharpe and Watts will compete in the East Preliminary for the first time. Sharpe, a sophomore from Pickering, Ontario, qualified in the 400-meter hurdles when she took second at the A-10 Championships with a time of 1:00.07.

Watts qualified in the high jump with her personal-best leap of 1.77 meters, which she posted in winning the event at the Mason Spring Invitational last month. The graduate student from Lynchburg, Va., is just two weeks removed from winning her second straight A-10 outdoor championship.

NCAA East Preliminary Championships
May 26-28
Jacksonville, Fla.
George Mason Qualifiers
(Region seed and time)
MEN
100 Meters
48. Ayo Raymond (10.48)

200 Meters
47. Bernard Freeman (21.03)