???The 168th Street Armory in New York City has been host to some of the best track and field events over its 100 years of existence.
This past weekend, the men's and women's indoor track and field teams ventured out to the historic building to compete against some of the best teams in the nation.
???Both teams participated in the two-day New Balance Collegiate Meet. The event, held on Friday and Saturday, featured a highly competitive field of over 60 teams, including traditional powers such as LSU, Arkansas, Texas, Texas A&M and Tennessee.
???Although there was no team scoring for this event, Buffalo finished with impressive results. The Bulls finished with a number of their athletes posting great scores and high finishes. Their success in New York City, paired with their positive results last weekend at Penn State, gives them optimism for the conference championships approaching.
???Buffalo succeeded in capturing one first-place finish. The men's 4x400 relay team won the New York-New Jersey final. Buffalo's winning relay team, made up of junior sprinter Ezekiel Porter, sophomores Brandon Giles and Matt Armstrong, and freshman Isaiah Mask, edged out Binghamton and Syracuse with a time of 3:16.24.
???The women's team also had several strong performances. Senior Fatimah Hill, who already holds Buffalo indoor and outdoor records in the long jump, finished second in the event with a jump of 19-9.50, a season best. She just narrowly missed out on a win, finishing just a quarter-inch behind North Carolina's Ashley Hill.
???Freshman thrower Kristy Woods came in fourth place in the women's shot put with a throw of 48-11.50. Just behind her was senior thrower Tina Villa, whose shot put of 48-5.25 netted her a fifth-place finish. Woods also competed in the weight throw, finishing 14th at 52-11.00.
???Two of the women's pole-vaulters also finished in the top ten of their respective events. ???Junior Tiffany Maskulinski came in seventh in the championship final on Friday with a vault of 12-11.50. Junior Jillian Bliss tied for eighth in the event with a season-best vault of 11-3.75.
???Junior Kim Black turned in a top 10 performance, finishing 10th in the triple jump at 39.375.
???The men's team had several top 10 finishes. The shot put yielded two such finishes, with senior Alex Stamatakis placing seventh at 57-2 and junior Jake Madonia placing in 10th with a shot put of 54-9.50. Sophomore Matt Gac, who already owns Buffalo's weight throw record, came in ninth in the weight throw at 58-8.50. Stamatakis also participated in the weight throw, placing 14th with a throw of 56-10.75.
???Men's track head coach Perry Jenkins cited strong performances from sophomore distance runner Jake Hagen in the 3000-meter, sophomore distance runner Sean Brummert in the 800-meter, and junior sprinter Dan Harris in the 60-meter.
???"We had our moments," Jenkins said. "I was happy [with] the way our distance runners, throwers and sprinters performed."
???This is the second straight weekend that the Bulls have competed in a national-level meet after last weekend's event at Penn State.
???"Two back-to-back major meets is very difficult to go through," Jenkins said.
???The Bulls are now preparing for next weekend's Akron Invitational, which Jenkins figures will provide more tough competition.
???"[The Akron Invitational] is going to have similar competition to this weekend," he said. "It takes a toll on the team, but we have to prepare ourselves for the conference championships in three weeks."
???The Bulls will return to Akron on Feb. 20 to take part in the Akron Open. Following that, Buffalo will travel to the Mid-American Conference Indoor Track Championships, scheduled to begin on Feb. 27 at Kent State.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
