April 14, 2003

KNOXVILLE, TN ... April 12, 2003 ... The George Mason University men's and women's track & field teams competed at the University of Tennessee's annual Sea Ray Relays, held at the Tom Black Track in Knoxville, TN, over the weekend.

Sophomore Sheena Davidson (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) led the women's team with a ninth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:01.43 to qualify for the NCAA East Regional Championships, to be held at George Mason University from Friday, May 30 through Saturday, May 31. The women's sprint medley relay and 4x100-meter relay also picked up top-10 finishes, placing third and fifth, respectively. The 4x1 finished in the NCAA Regional qualifying time of 46.03 seconds, while the sprint medley clocked in at 3:52.50.

Other individuals to do well in Knoxville were sophomore Tysha Colon (Washington, DC/HD Woodson), placing 12th in the 100 meters in a season-best 12.02 seconds, and junior Kim Morgan (Houston, TX/Alief Hastings), finishing 14th in the 100 in a season-best 12.05 seconds.

The men's team was led by sophomore Richard Phillips (St. Catherine, Jamaica/Ardenne/Abilene Christian), who qualified for the NCAA East Regional Championships in both the 110-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles. He placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles in a personal-best time of 51.36 seconds, and finished seventh in the 110-meter hurdles in a season-best 14.04 seconds.

Junior Wayne Wright (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) was runner-up in the high jump with a season-best six-foot, nine-inch performance, while sophomore Jonathan Martin (Fairfax, VA/Bishop O'Connell/Cal State Fullerton) placed ninth in the event with a 6-foot, 4¼-inch mark.

Other top performances were turned in by senior Serge Bengono (Yaounde, Cameroon/Younde), placing eighth in the 100 meters in 10.63 seconds and 11th in the 200 meters in 21.54 seconds, and junior Ricardo Cunningham (Clarendon, Jamaica/Vere Tech/SW Christian CC), finishing 13th in the 800 meters in a personal-best 1:49.99 to qualify for the NCAA East Regional Championships.

The George Mason men's and women's track & field teams return to action this weekend at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships, to be held at Sportsbackers Stadium in Richmond, VA, from Friday, April 18, through Saturday, April 19.