Senior Mary Pat Erickson knew she had three potential track All-Americans relying on her when she towed the line for the opening 1200 leg of the distance medley relay at the Cannon IV Classic in Indianapolis, IN, last Friday evening. Her job in a nutshell: pass the baton to All-American Staci Hubbard on the 400 and put Mason in contention to run fast.

Erickson accomplished every bit of the task. In fact, she cruised through the 1000 mark at 2:56, which was faster than she had raced the event this year and still had 200 meters to go. In the end, she handed off in her fastest 1200 time ever (3:32.9), and kept Mason within striking distance of the leaders. Erickson's handoff went to Hubbard, who zipped around the 400 in 55 seconds, then to Michelle Ballentine, who blazed a 2:05 on the 800, then to Amina Amaddah, who closed with a 4:46 1600 leg. In the end, the Patriots finished third at 11:21.4 -- an NCAA automatic qualifier and a school record by more than seven seconds.

"Mary Pat has always been a good 1000 runner, and she's run good 800s and 1600s," said George Mason coach Norm Gordon. "The 1200 is a made-to-order distance for her. She set up the race in Indianapolis so that the others didn't have to run like crazy to catch up."

The Patriot distance medley will compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships to be held in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, IN, March 7-8.