May 27, 2005

E. Elmhurst, N.Y. - Six members of the George Mason men's and women's outdoor track and field teams are set to participate at NCAA East Region Championships, held Friday and Saturday at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island (N.Y.) near Manhattan.

Athletes taking part on the men's side include senior Ricardo Cunningham (Clarendon, Jamaica), graduate student Mike Garner (Frederick, Md.), senior Marc Kellman (Coram, N.Y.), junior Quentin Matthews (Chesapeake, Va.) and sophomore Ryan McCoy (Roanoke, Va.). Freshman Fiana York (Havertown, Pa.) will represent the Patriot women at the event.

Women's East Region Qualifiers in PDF Format
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Friday's Heat Sheets in PDF Format
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The competition begins Friday at noon with the trials and finals of men's discus and the finals of the men's high jump events. Track races start at 3:30 p.m. with the women's 4x100m preliminary races. Saturday's meet begins in the morning with the trials and finals of women's discus and the finals of the women's high jump. Finals of the track competitions start in the mid-afternoon. The top five athletes in the finals of each event advance to the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif. in June. Four more at-large selections will also be chosen.

Matthews starts things off for Mason in the high jump where he is ranked tied for 10th in the region with a season-best mark of 2.10m, which is the minimum regional qualifying standard. Colonial Athletic Association and IC4A champion Garner will run in the Patriots first track event - preliminary heats of the 100m dash - at 5:45 p.m., where he is tied for 10th in the region (10.40).

York follows at 6 p.m. in the 800m run. The CAA champion in the event has the 42nd best time in the region at 2:13.02. Cunningham, the 800m CAA champion, runs his event at 6:15 p.m. He has the 10th best time in the region (1:49.25). Garner runs again at 6:22 p.m. in the 200m dash. The CAA and IC4A champion has a personal-best time of 20.90 and is rated ninth in the region.

Kellman, the CAA champion in the triple jump, and McCoy will participate in Saturday's 4 p.m. trials and finals of the triple jump. Kellman will also battle in Friday's trials and finals of the men's long jump that begins at 5 p.m.