March 7, 2004

Boston, Mass. - The George Mason women's track and field team had a successful Sunday at the ECAC Championships at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at Boston, winning two events and finishing eighth in the team standings with a total of 39 points. The Patriots were just three points out of a tie for sixth.

The 4X400-meter relay team ran a blistering 3:41.53 to win the event, coming from behind in the final leg. Paula Bailey put the Patriots in strong position with her opening 400 meters and Alycia Williams gave them a slight lead with her second leg. Sheena Goss, an 800-meter runner, was solid in the third leg but couldn't hold off Cornell or Seton Hall, as they each passed her, leaving Davidson in third when she took the baton.

Davidson, running in her fourth 400-meters in two days, overtook Seton Hall in the first 200 and took the lead on the final stretch to give the Patriots their second title of the day.

Earlier in the afternoon, Alyce Williams won the triple jump with a leap of 12.65-meters. She leapt that distance with her first jump and had to hold off Pascale Delaunay of University of Rhode Island, who leapt 12.61-meters with her final jump. Williams, not needing her third and final jump to win the title, decided to take it anyway in hopes of improving her national standing. She is 16th nationally in the triple jump and while that qualified her provisionally for the NCAA Indoor Championships, she knows the heartbreak of missing that meet. Last year, she was 17th and only 16 competitors went.

Williams looked poised to launch a stellar leap but had to pull up during the second phase of her jump because of a slight sprain in her right ankle. If she does make the NCAA meet next weekend, she is expected to be healthy enough to compete.

While Alyce Williams was able to take home first, her twin sister, Alycia Williams, had to settle for fifth in the 500-meters. She handily won the slower of the two heats but her time was only good for fifth.

Despite not claiming an individual championship, the weekend's workhorse was Davidson. After running the top qualifying time in the 400-meters and leading the Patriots through the preliminaries in the 4X400-meter relay on Saturday, she needed to race both events on Sunday.

In the 400-meters final, she found herself trapped in fourth for most of the race and only a burst in the final 150 meters allowed her to finish second in 54.60 seconds. Ahndraea Allen of Northeastern, running on her home track, won in 53.49 seconds. While Davidson's points were critical to the team, she was nonetheless disappointed at not winning the ECAC title. Like Alyce Williams, she will find out on Monday night if she will be competing at next weekend's NCAA Championship at Fayetteville, Ark.