???Both the men and women's track and field teams brought their A-game to the Akron Invitational, and it showed in the record books.
???Although there was no team scoring, a variety of Bulls shined in Friday and Saturday's meet. Women's head coach Vicki Mitchell was impressed with her team's performance over the weekend.
???"We had a very strong performance both on the track and on the field events," Mitchell said. "It was a long day for the athletes, but they focused well."
???The meet was divided into two sections-gold and blue. The top athletes performed in the gold events while the remaining athletes competed in the blue events.
???Among the standouts for the women were freshmen Anna Holmes and Jackie Burns. Holmes placed second in the women's 400-meter gold with a personal-best time of 56.87. Burns ran well in the 800-gold, finishing with a personal-best of 2:12.61.
???"I was very pleased with the two of them," Mitchell said.
???Holmes also participated in the 4x400 relay along with junior Allison Grimes, junior Leah Grasmeyer and redshirt-freshman Katelyn Laurey. The foursome was beaten out by four-thousandths of a second, finishing with a time of 3:53.159. Duquesne, the winner of the race, finished with a time of 3:53.155.
???"It was very tight," Mitchell said. "We had a heck of an anchor leg, which pulled us from third to almost tying for first place."
???The women also had three first-place finishes in the blue division events. Sophomore Ajla Glavasevic won the blue division triple jump with a jump of 38-7.50, her best jump in college. Freshman Jackie Cavalluzzo took the mile with a finishing time of 5:19.77. In addition, freshman Shante White came out on top in the shot put event with a throw of 12-4.50.
???"We have freshmen and upperclassmen both doing very well, so it provides a nice balance," Mitchell said.
???The women's team wasn't the only squad to experience success. Two men's throwers topped their own Buffalo records in gold division events.
???Senior Alex Stamatakis placed third in the shot put event, but improved his own individual record by four and a half inches with a heave of 58-3.75. This toss also earned him a provisional NCAA qualification.
???Sophomore Matt Gac finished third in his individual event, posting a throw of 62-11.25 in the weight throw. This personal best toss added seven inches to his previous mark, which broke the school mark for the third time this season.
???The men shined in many of the gold division track events. Sophomore Ryan Bloom finished fifth overall in the 3000-event, producing a season-best time of 8:57.28. The 4x400 relay team of junior Brian Smith, sophomore Sean Brummert, sophomore Justin Craddock and freshman Barry Mask placed fifth with a time of 3:17.80. ???Sophomore Austin Archibald made the gold finals and placed seventh in the 60-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line with a time of 8.28.
???Both teams faired well in the discus events. Gac placed second in the men's event with a throw of 167-10 and junior Jake Madonia was able to capture a fourth place finish with a toss of 157-6.
???The women's trio of senior Tina Villa, freshman Kristy Woods and White took three out of the top five spots, finishing first, second, and fourth, respectively. Villa won the event with a throw of 150-1.
???Woods faired well in the gold shot put event, finishing second with a toss of 48-11. Villa finished a spot behind Woods with a toss of 48-6.
???Mitchell was not surprised with the thrower's overall success on the day.
???"Our throwers always do pretty well at every meet," she said.
???Both track and field teams are off until Friday, when they will once again compete in Akron at the Akron Open. The event begins at 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
