RICHMOND, Va. — The George Mason track and field program opened its outdoor season Friday at the Fred Hardy Invitational, hosted by Richmond at Robins Stadium.
Graduate student Sid Yap broke the school record in the hammer throw with a personal-record toss of 58.37 meters, finishing first in the event. He bested teammate Jaylen Simmons' mark of 58.15m set a season ago. The mark leads the Atlantic 10 and ranks 16th in the NCAA East Region.
Simmons finished second in the event (52.16m), followed by Bobby Kestyn in fourth (48.72) and Garsen Gross in fifth (46.95m).
In addition, Simmons won both the shot put (16.98m) and discus throw (50.65m) on Friday. Freshman Arsalan Yaqubi notched second in the javelin with a mark of 51.95 meters — good for seventh all-time at Mason.
On the women's side, senior Jessica McRae earned second in the hammer throw with a toss of 55.80m.
Sophomore Kelsey Sebwe won the women's triple jump with a mark of 11.97 meters.
In the pole vault, Ryan Cherry won the event with a clearance of 4.30m while Autumn White took third on the women's side (3.65m).
In her Green & Gold debut, graduate student Lindsey Schmidt impressed, placing second in both the high jump (1.55m) and 100m hurdles (15.42).
Freshman Abby Weening finished fourth in the long jump (5.63m), followed by Laura DeMarzi in seventh (5.24m).
Elsewhere on the track, James Seal won the 800m race with a time of 1:53.58. Timothy Allen also claimed the top spot in the 110m hurdles (15.40).
Joseph Queen placed fourth In the men's 1500m run (3:54.10) while Elijah Brown took fifth in the 400m (49.44).
Adia Palmer was second in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:02.36, followed closely behind by teammate Michka-Mae Hyde in third (1:03.55).
In the distance events, Wesley Bond finished third in the 5000m with a time of 14:48.63. Josh Walker placed 12th in the event with a time of 15:32.16.
The Mason men claimed first in the 4x400 relay, complied of Decker Barborek, Brown, Micah Harris and Paul McClain, with a time of 3:19.02. The Patriots took second in the event on the women's side (3:56.85).
In total, the Patriots posted nine first-place marks at the Fred Hardy Invite to open their outdoor campaign.
Up next, Mason will head to the Raleigh Relays on March 24-26 in Raleigh, N.C.
