KINGSTON, R.I. – Rhode Island men’s team scored 48 points to lead the team scoring after the first day of the 2020 Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championship. George Mason is in first place in the women’s championship with 40 points. The two-day event concludes Sunday at URI’s Mackal Fieldhouse.
 
Mason is also in second place on the men’s side with 47 points, just one point shy of Rhody’s lead. VCU currently sits in third place with 26 points, followed by Fordham and Massachusetts (19), Davidson (13), Saint Joseph’s (8), George Washington (6), Saint Louis (5), with La Salle rounding out the group with four points. 
 
The Rams had with four first place finishes, led by junior Anthony Delasanta who took first in the preliminaries of the 400 meters at a time of 49.12 and the 200 meters at 21.90. Freshman Roniel Mata clocked a time of 1:04.93 in the 500 meter preliminaries and freshman Collin Ochs finished second in the 800 meter preliminaries in 1:51.87. To conclude the first day of competition, Rhody’s distance medley relay team took the top spot on the podium with a time of 10:10.36.
 
Massachusetts is in second place in the women’s championship with 37 points, and Dayton finished day one in third place with 31 points. The Flyers were followed by Richmond and Rhode Island (21), VCU (20), Davidson (16), George Washington (15), Duquesne and La Salle (10), Fordham (7), and Saint Louis (6).
 
The Patriots took the lead with several first place finishes including senior Ashley Lewis’ first place time of 2:09.94 in the 800 meter preliminaries. Sophomore Hannah Robertson took first place in the pole vault at a measure of 3.76 meters, while sophomore Grace Gaudin claimed first in the weight throw at 17.61 meters. 
 
VCU’s Will Schwartz set the men’s meet record in the weight throw with a throw of 20.45 meters, while Massachusetts’ Jada Harris set the women’s meet record in the 60 meter hurdle preliminaries at 8.45. George Washington’s Suzanne Dannheim wrote her name in the record books by setting both a meet and facility record in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:20.52. 
 
Nicholas Raefski of Fordham took first place in the men’s 5,000 meters finals at 14:35.80. 
 
Richmond’s women’s distance medley relay team had a first place finish with a time of 11:47.39. Kayla Woods took first place in the women’s long jump for the Spiders at 5.91 meters. 
 
VCU’s Camron Browne claimed the top spot in the men’s long jump finals with a jump of 7.18 meters, while George Mason’s Harrison Shotwell finished first in the men’s pole vault at 4.97 meters. 
 
The championship will resume tomorrow with field events starting at 9:00 am and running events beginning at 11:15 am.