Success at Bison meet

After a couple of trips through North Carolina and a stop in Florida to begin the spring season, Buffalo's track and field team made one final road trip to Pennsylvania this past weekend before it makes its home debut at UB Stadium this upcoming Saturday.
Friday afternoon, the men and women opened up competition at Bucknell University for the Bison Outdoor Classic, a two-day event.
Despite windy conditions, the field team posted strong results on the first day of the meet as sophomore Chris Davis won the men's long jump with a season-best jump of 23-6.75 (7.18m).
On the track, junior Gillian Taylor won her heat in the 1500-meter invite, clocking in at 4:41.97. In the same event on the men's side, freshman John Inzina won his heat with a personal best time of 4:04.87.
Buffalo also prospered in the longer distance events as freshman Katie Sanders finished 16th out of a field of over 70 runners. Sanders's time of 17:43.15 qualified her for the USATF Junior National Championships.
With the sun shining down on Lewisburg on Saturday, the Bulls were rewarded with better results and a record-breaking performance.
The men's throw team put together another strong showing in the shot put as sophomore Rob Golabek set two new records. His throw of 59-11.75 (18.28m) set a new Bucknell facility record and broke the Buffalo all-time record. Seniors Jake Madonia (57-7.50 [17.56m]) and Alex Stamatakis (57-6.50 [17.54m]) finished right behind him to complete a Buffalo sweep.
The women's team found success on the field as well.
Sophomore Shante White won the hammer throw with a season-high distance of 187-8 (57.20m). Sophomore Kristy Woods collected another shot put victory for the Bulls with a throw of 51-9.25 (15.78m), a new facility record.
Junior Kim Black won the triple jump with a jump of 40-8.25 (12.40m) in her first and only jump of the day.
"[The success] was a combination of a lot of people stepping up today," said men's head coach Perry Jenkins.
Junior Shaun Brummert gave Buffalo another victory after finishing with a time of 1:52.54 in the 800-meter race – a full second ahead of runner-up sophomore Isaiah Mask.
In the women's 800-meter race, sophomore Jackie Burns finished in third place with a time of 2:13.16, her season's best. Freshman Brooklynn Ventura came in second in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.55, and also finished fourth overall among 32 entries in the 400-meter hurdle. Freshman Jamiee McClary recorded a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash.
"Brooklynn's 400IH was an excellent start to the season," said women's head coach Vicki Mitchell. "She's excited for even more."
The relay teams found moderate success near the end of the meet. The 4x800 meter relay team of senior John Bauman, freshman Michael Pressler, Brummert and Inzina finished in third place with a time of 7:45.69. The women's 4x800 team of freshmen Aimee Hopkins and Leah Wightman, as well as Burns and Taylor, finished in second place with a time of 9:13.21.
The performances of the relay teams capped off a successful meet for the Bulls.
"We are very pleased with the results," Mitchell said. "This meet was the perfect meet for us to compete at. The competition was solid, the venue was nice and the weather cooperated."
As the season continues through April, Jenkins recognizes that success at the MAC Championships continues to be the main goal for the team.
"We were not looking to break records," Jenkins said. "We're looking to do well at the MAC championships and try to get as many people to the first round of the NCAA [Championships]."
The Bulls will host the UB Invitational Saturday morning at UB Stadium. The first event is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.

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