Day One Results | Day Two Schedule

FAIRFAX, Va. – After a dramatic finish to the first day of the 2017 Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championships, which is hosted in their own backyard at the Field House, the George Mason men's and women's track and field teams will go into the finals-packed Sunday with two gold medals already in their possession.

On Saturday, junior pole vaulter Shelby Garnand, a 2016 Atlantic 10 indoor bronze medalist, vaulted five centimeters better than a year ago and will climb two steps higher on the podium this time around. Garnand tied her personal best of 3.75 meters to win the event, beating the rest of the field by at least 25 centimeters.

The Patriots then saved the more dramatic triumph for last with their men's distance medley relay team, overcoming a final-leg deficit to Saint Joseph's to win the gold in the event. Under thundering chants of encouragement from teammates and fans alike, sophomores Blaine Lacey, Logan Miller, and Rico Gomez and redshirt senior Brent Coulter completed the race in 10:02.40 and added 10 points for Mason in the team standings.

Heading into the second day, the Mason men's team is in second place with 45 points – 20 behind first-place Rhode Island (65) and 19.5 ahead of Davidson (20.5) – through five events. On the women's side, through six events, the Patriots are in third place with 32 points. They aren't far off the lead, though, as Rhode Island sits in first with 38.5 points and Dayton is right behind with 37 points. The two-day meet resumes on Sunday at 9 a.m. with the men's triple jump final.

"In the case of the finals (Saturday, we) had several very exciting finishes – lots of contributors with points both big and small," Mason head coach Andrew Gerard said. "They all add up and are important. To end the with the exciting win in the men's DMR was great – the place was rocking and we really felt the home crowd behind us. (It was a) very, very nice springboard into tomorrow, for sure."

Mason won a total of six medals in the first day of competition. On the women's side, junior Chantel Richardson won a silver medal in the long jump with best jump of 5.78 meters, just two centimeters short of the winner, Rhode Island's Juleen Lewis.

Rhode Island's Casey Burley (7.36 meters), won the men's long jump, too. He will be joined on the podium by Mason junior Raeshawn Bishop (7.19 meters), who repeats his silver-medal performance from last year, and senior Jimi Tele (7.09 meters), who grabbed the bronze. Tele will try to win his third straight A-10 crown in the triple jump on Sunday. 

Senior Logan Besougloff continued the Patriots' successful day in the pole vault and snagged the bronze medal with a best vault of 4.80 meters. This will be Besougloff's second-straight podium appearance after he grabbed the conference title in 2016.

Sunday promises to be another exciting day for Mason with a total of 22 Patriots earning a spot in the finals of the running events. A Patriot recorded the best qualifying time for six of the seven running finals: sophomore Sarah Moore (women's 400-meter dash – 54.65); junior Sharon Dorsey (women's 500-meter run – 1:13.93); junior Deonna Diggs (women's 60-meter hurdles – 8.67); senior Ayodeji Raymond (men's 60-meter dash – 6.83); senior Bernard Freeman (men's 200-meter run – 21.80); and junior Nathan Schulte (men's 1,000-meter run – 2:29.17).

"We advanced who we needed to in order to be where we want to be in day two," Gerard said.

In addition, junior John Seals leads the heptathlon through four events with 3,208 points after winning three of the four events on Saturday – the 60-meter dash, the high jump and the long jump.