Women's Track & Field | 3/28/2019 1:56:00 PM

FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason men's and women's track and field teams close out March with their last split weekend of the season.

The Patriots will send a large contingent to the Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State while the throwers will stay in-state for the Fred Hardy Invitational at Richmond. Both meets begin Friday and carry through Saturday.

At the Fred Hardy Invitational, the Patriots will take 16 throwers to compete in the shot put, discus, hammer throw and javelin. Mason head coach Andrew Gerard and throws coach Becky Hartley believe the meet offers their throwers a good chance to get as many as six reps in their events if they advance to the finals.

A little bit further down I-95, a contingent of sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and distance runners will compete at the massive Raleigh Relays. The meet features more than 30 teams and includes ACC foes Boston College, Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State along with the Big Ten's Michigan State.

"It is probably one of the biggest meets on the East Coast," Gerard said. "Just the accumulation of that many athletes is going to make it competitive, just by sheer mass of people."

The Raleigh Relays will also present opportunities to compete in events in "non-traditional" relays, such as the 4x200-meter relay and the sprint medley relay, which consists of two legs of 200 meters, a 400-meter leg and the 800 meters.

"The bigger piece of the puzzle, the focus is more on the relays," Gerard said.