Women's Track & Field | 1/11/2019 5:28:00 PM

Great Dane Schedule

FAIRFAX, Va. – After getting their feet wet last weekend, the George Mason men's and women's indoor track and field teams head north for a challenge in a much larger pool.

The Patriots will compete in the Great Dane Invitational on Saturday hosted by the University of Albany at the Ocean Breeze Track and Field Center in Staten Island, N.Y. 

Mason began the season with an impressive showing at the Father Diamond Invitational on their home track at the George Mason Field House last Saturday in a meet that featured just six teams. 

The Great Dane Invitational, conversely, is expected to feature a field of more than 25 schools along with unattached runners from clubs and professional athletes.

"Last weekend we did good things," Mason head coach Andrew Gerard said. "It was a smaller atmosphere, quiet. You could kind of focus in on what people needed to do without a lot of competition around, a lot of challenges. This weekend will be quite a bit larger. Just having the noise and the number of people around is always a distraction. You need to focus in a little bit more. This time, a lot more going on even if it is not in your events.

"So it is taking what we did that was good in the last (meet) and transposing it over. More competition, more bodies, more distractions because that is really when the (Atlantic 10) Championship rolls around. You have that haze of battle that sets in and you try to see your way clear to focus on the few things you need to do be at your best."

Reigning Atlantic 10 Field Performer of the Week Benjamin Viau looks to build on the momentum after setting the school record in the weight throw last weekend with a winning toss of 17.6 meters. Fellow throwers Jaylen Simmons and Connor Steggerda, along with high jumper Cason Gardner (A-10 Rookie of the Week), hurdler Kornelius Klah and sprinter Junias Agyei also delivered performances that landed them on Mason's all-time top 10 list in their events. 

The Patriots will travel more than 50 student-athletes between the men's and women's teams to a meet that will feature many regional teams, including Howard, Johns Hopkins, Hampton, Temple, Columbia, LIU Brooklyn and Albany.

"Competitively, I think we are set up well at this one," Gerard said. "We're in a good position for people to be at the front of things, to do well in the field. Just having a lot more bodies there is going to amount to more competition."