George Mason junior Lavell Handy was
selected as the 2011 CAA Male Athlete of the Year in track and field by
a vote of the league's head coaches while Andrew Gerard was voted CAA Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.
Handy earned second-team All-America honors this season after placing 12th in the triple jump (15.71m) at the NCAA Championships, which was the
top finish of any CAA athlete at the event. He was selected as the Most
Outstanding Performer in field events at the 2011 CAA Championship after
winning the long jump (7.58m) and the triple jump (15.49m). He also
took home first place in the 110 meter hurdles (14.37). Handy was the
IC4A champion in the triple jump and the Penn Relays champion in the
long jump. He is Mason's first CAA track and field Athlete of the Year
since 2006.
Gerard
was honored as the CAA Coach of the Year for the second-straight season
and the third time in his career after guiding George Mason to
back-to-back conference titles. The Patriots compiled 239 points in the
CAA meet, which was 95.5 points more than their closest competitor, and
had 10 individual event champions. Gerard previously earned the CAA
Coach of the Year accolades in 2003 during his tenure as head coach at
William and Mary.
In
addition to the 2011 major award winners, the
following Mason individuals and relay teams received All-CAA honors based on
their performances at the CAA Championship.
2011 CAA Men's Track and Field All-Conference Honorees:
100m: Rachaunn Ruffin (Mason)
200m: Rachaunn Ruffin (Mason), Adrian Vaughn (Mason)
400m: David Verburg (Mason), Nick Vaughn (Mason), Ja-Vell Bullard (Mason)
800m: Tyler Golden (Mason)
1,500m: Anthony LaMastro (Mason)
5,000m: Alex Zyryanov (Mason)
3,000m Steeplechase: Daniel Callan (Mason), Robert Reynolds (Mason)
4x100m relay: George Mason (Adrian Vaughn, Rachaunn Ruffin, Travaughn Baker-Johnson, Nick Vaughn)
Pole Vault: Wes Sun (Mason), Patrick Dietrick (Mason), Lee Oxenford (Mason)
Long Jump: Lavell Handy (Mason)
Triple Jump: Lavell Handy (Mason), Dwight Webley (Mason)
Decathlon: David Wellington (Mason)
2011 CAA Women's Track and Field All-Conference Honorees:
400m: Daianna Barron (Mason)
800m: Monique McKenzie (Mason)
1,500m: Nao Ma (Mason)
400m hurdles: Taylor Wheaton (Mason)
4x100m relay: George Mason (Crystalyne Clark, TaNay Chandler, Katea Jemmott, Daianna Barron)
4x400m relay: George Mason (Shantel Miles, Daianna Barron, Crystalyne Clark, Dominique Graham)
High Jump: Dominique Graham (Mason)
Pole Vault: Mandissa Marshall (Mason)
Triple Jump: Namatirai Grace Mavugara (Mason)
Heptathlon: Amanda Denger (Mason)
