The men's and women's indoor track and field teams participated at the Penn State National Invitational this past weekend. There was no team scoring for the event, but Buffalo saw several good performances from its athletes.
"Overall, this was a fantastic meet for both the men's and the women's team," said head coach Vicki Mitchell. "The level of competition was among the best and we faced top notch athletes from other schools."
Senior Patrice Coney had a great day in the pentathlon. Coney finished in fourth place and scored a new school-record with 3,751 points. This accomplishment also gave Coney an opportunity to compete in the NCAA provisional qualifier. Coney started out the event with a marvelous effort in 55-meter hurdles, finishing in 8.19 seconds, demolishing the school-record. Coney also came in first place in the 800-meter dash, clocking in at 2:20.93, second in the shot put with a personal best score of 11.34 meters and a third place result in the long jump with a leap of 5.40m.
"Patrice set the tone for the rest of the team because she was the first person to compete," Mitchell said. "She fared very well in three events, but was not pleased with two others. It's exciting that she qualified for the NCAA's, but it's scary to see what she will score in the Pentathlon when she is good in all five events. She has shown a lot of focus and passion in this event."
Another notable showing in the Pentathlon came from freshman Lataya Dixon, who finished in seventh place, with a score of 3,531 points. She won the high jump event at 1.69m and scored a personal best in the 55-meter hurdles crossing the line in 8.33 seconds.
Two Bulls made it to the finals of their events. Senior Tina Villa scored a personal best throw in the shot-put indoors at 14.77 meters and came in seventh place. Junior Fatimah Hill finished with a distance of 5.79m in the long jump, which also resulted in a seventh place finish.
Junior Mary Veith continued to move up in the school-record books. Veith's fifth place finish in the Invitational 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:44.06 was the second fastest in school history.
In the open 3,000-meter run, junior Jessica Schultz ran a personal best time of 10:14.35, which was good for third place. Sophomore Christine Sprehe also had a personal best time in the 1,000-meter run, posting a time of 3:02.65.
Buffalo also had a strong result from their pole-vaulters. Sophmore Tiffany Maskulinski had a fifth place finish with a height of 3.66 meters and senior Carrie Hinners came in seventh place, getting up to 3.51 meters.
On the men's side, senior Dan Giza had a personal best time in the mile run, crossing the line at 4:11.30. This time gave Giza a 14th place finish, yet it was the second fastest mile in school history.
Another strong event for the men was the 4 by 400-meter relay. The team of, freshman Brandon Giles, and sophomores John Bauman, John Conners and Ezekiel Porter, had a season-best time of 3:17.92 in the event and won their heat. Porter also advanced to the semifinal round in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.91 seconds.
Buffalo also fared well in the weight throw. Junior Alex Stamatakis came in eighth place with a throw that went 17.52 meters.
"The men's team showed their strength and depth this past weekend," Mitchell said. "Many people had season best times that showed their hard work is really paying off."
Mitchell also emphasized that this team meet and the previous ones are very important for the teams as well as the players to prepare for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championships in March.
"Whenever we are successful at these events, there is a sense of positive momentum. It's good to place well not only individually, but also as a team as well. Each event is a stepping-stone towards the MAC championships," Mitchell said.
Both the men and women return to Pennsylvania this weekend when they compete in the Sykes/Sabock Challenge. The event takes place on Friday, Feb. 1 and Saturday, Feb. 2.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
