After starting their season on the road, the Buffalo men's and women's outdoor track and field teams held their first home meet on Saturday. UB Stadium provided friendly confines for the Bulls as they dominated the field at the UB Invitational, Buffalo's only outdoor home meet of the year.
No team scoring was kept but Buffalo won 22 of the 36 events at the meet. The men's and women's team captured 11 events each against Fredonia, Erie Community College, St. Bonaventure and Niagara.
The Bulls dominated the men's sprinting events as sophomore Ezekel Porter won the 200-meter dash along with capturing the 400-meter. Sophomore Daniel Schichtel was able to win the 100-meter dash, finishing ahead of five other Bulls.
In other track events, the Bulls were just as successful. Senior Dan Giza continued his stellar senior year with a season-best time in the 1,500 meter run. He finished the run in 3:54.10. Freshman Austin Archibald took home a first place finish in the 110 meter hurdles, just two hundredths of a second ahead of teammate Jamal Norward.
The field competitions provided the men with four more first-place finishes. Sophomore Sean Becker won the pole vault at 4.41 meters, while sophomore Eugene Kennedy won the long jump with a season-best leap of 6.67 meters. Freshman Matt Gac beat out teammate George Fetchko in the hammer throw and senior P.J. Gobios won the javelin throw.
Sophomore Tiffany Maskulinski led the women with a successful Saturday.
Maskulinski won the pole vault with a leap of 3.88 meters, a season-best. The leap also qualified her for the NCAA East Regional competition in May.
In the sprint events, the women took over where the men left off. Sophomore Octavia Johnston won the 100 meters in 12.13 seconds. Freshman Natalie Fildes took the 200-meters in 25.54 seconds, while sophomore Allison Grimes captured the victory in the 400-meters.
In the field events, the women flexed their muscles. Freshman Katie Weston won the women's javelin event with a throw of 46.97 meters. Junior Caitlin Godin tied her season-best in the high jump, while sophomore Jessica Cooper set a season-best with her triple-jump victory. Junior Fatimah Hill completed the women's dominance in the field events with a victory in the long jump.
The Bulls relay teams were just as good as the individual efforts put forth. Buffalo swept the men's and women's 4x100 and 4x400-meter events. The men's 4x100 team won their race with a season-best time of 41.16 seconds.
Buffalo's top athletes will head out to compete in the Penn Relays in Philadelphia. The other members of the team will race in Hillsdale College for the Gina Relays. Both events begin on Thursday and will end on Saturday.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
