Junior track and field athlete Michelle Ballentine did enough at this past weekend's Father Diamond Invitational to earn Connection Newspapers/George Mason Athlete of the Week honors, but somehow one gets the feeling that she can go faster -- a lot faster.

Ballentine, who transferred from Barton County (KS) Community College where she was the national junior college champion in the 800 meters, won her specialty at the meet held at the George Mason Fieldhouse. The way she ran her 2:13.81 time, however, left spectators feeling that they will see a lot more out of her in the future. Ballentine seemed to move gracefully around the track for 600 meters before kicking off a fast-finishing 32-second final 200 which left runner-up Erin Hayes of North Carolina one full second in her wake.

"She can run a lot faster in the 800," said head coach Norm Gordon. "Michelle races to win. She showed in the (4x400) that she can run real fast in the right situation. We'll find out more when we take her up to Boston in a few weeks to race against some fast competition."

What Gordon was referring to was a 54.0 second split on the anchor of Mason's winning 4x400 relay. Ballentine took the baton a distant second and put her team into the lead en route to a victory over the University of Miami, 3:46.91 to 3:48.27. Her split was nearly as fast as her personal outdoor 400 best of 53.79.

"I think she can run 2:05 or 2:06 indoors (in the 800)," said Gordon. "Not only will she be tough in the open race, but Michelle will really give us some pop in the distance medley relay indoors this year and on the 4x400 outdoors. She is exciting to watch."

Track&Field contact: Bill Kamenjar (993-3264)