Over the weekend, the Buffalo indoor track and field teams stampeded into University Park, PA looking for a victorious showing in the Sykes-Sabock Challenge, hosted by the Penn State Nittany Lions.
At the challenge, the Bulls faced schools ranging from the Tulane Green Wave, to the Cornell Big Red, while also facing Mid-American Conference opponents such as the Kent State Golden Flashes and the Akron Zips. When all was said and done, the women's indoor track and field team placed seventh of 13, while the men placed 10th of 11 in the meet.
The women's team finished with a final score of 36.50 points. This wasn't good enough for a top finish, but it was enough to beat MAC rival Kent State, who finished in 11th place with 17.50 points.
"As we hoped, we scored several points in the field events areas, which is one of the strengths of the team this year," said head coach Vicki Mitchell in a press release.
Junior Tiffany Maskulinski dominated the pole vault event, placing first in the event with a mark of 3.95m. This was good enough for the NCAA provisional qualifying standard. Senior Carrie Hinners, another pole vaulter for the Bulls, placed fourth in the same event with a jump of 3.50m.
Junior Caitlin Godin was another individual winner for the Bulls, earning first in the high jump event with a leap of 1.71m. Freshman Lataya Dixon also scored in the event, earning fourth place with a jump of 1.66m.
Junior Mary Veith earned a personal best in the mile run, finishing in eighth place with a time of 4:56.19. Junior Jessie Schultz produced a lifetime best time in the same event, finishing in 5:10.95.
Other strong finishers for the lady Bulls were senior Tina Villa and sophomores Jessica Cooper and Nicole Soblosky. Villa finished the shot-put event with a throw of 14.51m, which was good enough for fifth place. Cooper placed eighth in the long jump with a distance of 5.43m, while Soblosky finished eighth in the 3000-meter run with a personal best-finish of 10:18.24.
"The middle distance and distance runners continue to see weekly improvement," Mitchell said. "One key factor was our ability to compete and win against Kent State."
The men's team, on the other hand, finished the meet in 10th place in an 11-team field with 31 points. Two Bulls earned school records in the process.
Sophomore Ezekiel Porter earned first place in the 200-meter dash with a season-best time of 21.58 seconds. Sophomore John Bauman earned second place in the 600-meter dash with an overall time of 1:20.42. Sophomore Ryan Zillman finished the same event, but in sixth place with a final time of 1:21.13.
Other top performances for the Bulls came from sophomore Dan Schitchel, senior Jessie Mang, junior Alex Stamatakis, and senior George Fetchko. Schitchel finished fourth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.98 seconds. Mang earned a 12th place finish and a personal best in the 3000-meter run with a time of 8:37.0. Stamatakis also placed 12th in the weight throw event with a distance of 17.58m. Fetchko placed ninth in the shot put with a distance of 15.81 m.
After resting during the week, the Bulls will stampede through New York, NY to face schools from Texas to Princeton in the New Balance Collegiate Meet. The meet is scheduled for this Friday and Saturday.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
