Men's Track & Field | 3/22/2019 2:35:00 PM

FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason men's and women's track and field teams will stick together and take a large contingent down the road.

The Patriots compete in the Dan Stimson Memorial on Saturday at William & Mary in Williamsburg. More than 65 Mason track and field student-athletes will make the trip as the Patriots will compete at the same meet for the first time early in the outdoor season.

The five-team meet will be scored and includes Mason, Buffalo, Cornell, Navy and William & Mary. 

"I think it puts an extra layer on there – you don't have the team scoring component at a lot of meets," Mason head coach Andrew Gerard said. "This one has brought together five, good, competitive and fairly well-rounded teams. I think it is going to be a really competitive situation."

Mason split up last weekend to open the outdoor season with meets in Miami and Williamsburg. Neither were team scored but provided promising signs with strong performances across the board, including 29 top-five finishes.

"People are still getting back into some of the outdoor events we don't have indoors – the discus, javelin, hammer throw, steeplechase and the 4x100-meter relay," Gerard said. "It is early in the season for some of those folks to get moving. But as we've always said, if you sit around waiting, the end of the season is going to be here before you know it."

With team scoring in place this weekend, Gerard said there will be more of an emphasis to try earn points in events while also balancing the individual progress aspect. The team-scored event will help prepare the Patriots for the team-scoring format of the Atlantic 10 Championships and ECAC/IC4A Championships in May. 

"It is certainly something we've paid attention to and it is a more conscious (approach)," Gerard said. "Coming down the last straightaway, it is not just about you getting a PR or you getting a performance for you, it is also about earning points for the team. There is that extra level to the competitiveness. It is not just about you – it is about the bigger picture."