BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Patriots returned to action on Day Two of the Hokie Invitational, hosted by Virginia Tech at Rector Field House. During the late-morning to early-afternoon session, the team took part in men's and women's shot put, men's high jump, men's and women's triple jump, men's and women's mile, men's and women's 200m, men's 800m, and the men's 4x400m relay, posting personal bests and capturing event wins along the way.

The Green and Gold opened their track events with the women's mile, using the race to build momentum heading into the conclusion of their second meet of the indoor season. Ella Semple finished first with a time of 4:47.91, setting a new personal best and entering the event's Atlantic 10 season rankings in second place. Semple remains third on George Mason's indoor program all-time list, improving her previous third-best mark of 4:48.56 set last year.

The men's 4x400m relay team of Joziah Johnson, Lance Koontz, Jordan Tuck, and Mason Samuels finished first as well, besting in-state opponent William & Mary with a time of 3:17.45.

Women's shot put got Day Two underway for the Patriots, with Fiona Agyekum improving on last weekend's performance by throwing a season-best 11.85m, placing ninth in the Atlantic 10. Amelia Male set a personal best with a mark of 11.55m. In the men's shot put, William Michael Baker recorded a personal best of 15.00m. His mark currently ranks seventh in the A-10 for the season and moved him up to ninth on Mason's all-time list.

The Patriots continued their strong showing in the field events, as freshman Kellen La Roche cleared a personal-best 2.06 meters in the men's high jump to place second in the meet. His mark currently ranks third in the A-10 and is the ninth-best in George Mason's indoor program history.

The women's triple jump closed out the field events for the Patriots. Freshman Kymara Fernandez set a personal best of 11.88m to rank fifth in the Atlantic 10. Kailynn Tyson also recorded a personal best with a mark of 12.61m to earn first place. The winning performance lifted Tyson to first in the A-10 and improved her previous 12.46m mark to maintain her place at 10th on the Patriots' all-time indoor list. Tyson also entered the NCAA indoor rankings, currently sitting 48th nationally. She joins fellow Patriot Kennedy Drish, who cleared 4.24 meters in the women's pole vault on Day One of the Hokie Invitational, placing 21st on the NCAA indoor qualifying list.

Head coach Andrew Gerard said the weekend showed positive progress for the program.

"This weekend was highly productive, both in terms of actual performances and the bigger picture of overall movement towards championship preparation. As our first two-day meet of the season, a major focus was maintaining energy and intensity on Day Two, and the team delivered. In fact, Day Two may have been our most engaged and energetic showing. The team embraced the challenge, and the results reflected that. Overall, it was a very positive weekend." 

The Patriots will host their first home meet of the indoor season, the Patriot Games, at the George Mason Field House on Friday, January 30 to Saturday, January 31.