As the winter season winds down, the indoor track and field season is starting to heat up for the men and women's teams.
The Bulls head to Akron, Ohio to take on the best the Mid-American Conference has to offer as they compete in the MAC Indoor Championships this weekend.
Both teams are looking to finish at the top of the conference after stellar seasons in many different events.
Buffalo has two teams that are the odds-on favorites in the shot put. Senior Becky O'Brien is the defending champion and the number one seed coming into Akron. She has already qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, as well as the Olympic trials late June in Oregon. She is not worried about losing that edge in Akron, however.
"In all honesty, I think she is ready for that extra pressure," said women's head coach Vicki Mitchell. "Every meet she's been at, she's been the number one thrower and there's always pressure to win. She's been accustomed to being in that situation and she rises to the occasion."
The men have a stud as well. Senior Rob Golabek is also the defending champion, and his throw of 63 feet and-3.50 inches set a Buffalo and MAC record in the event two weeks ago at the SPIRE Division-1 Invitational.
With the successes of the two athletes, men's head coach Perry Jenkins sees the healthy competition that comes out as they both try to be the best.
"They're both competitors, and they want to be the best in their event, and sometimes [their success] rubs off," Jenkins said. "It's fun to watch, when you see Becky and Rob compete – they don't settle for number three or two, they want to be number one."
On the track, redshirt sophomore Miles Lewis has been making a huge impact in his first year, entering the weekend as the second-fastest in the men's 60-meters and third-fastest in the men's 200-meters in the conference, according to Jenkins.
"I've been watching him since high school, and I'm glad that he came in [to the program]," said Jenkins. "He's one of our top sprinters in the conference, and he's got a good chance to be in the NCAA Outdoor Championships. He's got two and a half months under his belt here and come this weekend he's going to surprise some people."
For the women, junior Brooklynn Ventura has had a tremendous season at the women's 60-meter hurdles. She is the top seed going into the weekend, and has set a new Bulls record at 8.57 at the SPIRE Division-1 Invitational, which is a better time than rivals Iris Campbell from Western Michigan, and Roneisha Frye from Northern Illinois. To Mitchell, she is another person that is expected to dominate this weekend.
"She's been on fire," said Mitchell. "Every time she comes out, she has a great time. Just like Becky, she looks forward to the opportunity to get up against good competition and run fast times."
Both teams are looking to finish at least in the upper half of the conference in team scoring. The women, who have finished as high as sixth three separate times, are looking to make history.
"They were disappointed after last year, and they worked hard to set up some new priorities for themselves," said Mitchell. "We make sure our women are focused, ready to go, supporting each other, and ready to surprise other people out in the conference."
The men finished fourth last year, and with all the new faces on the team, they're still looking to exceed the success of last year.
"We are young, we lost 15 guys from last year's team," said Jenkins. "But it's up to our men's team to show up and win this championship."
The weekend's events at the University of Akron's Stile Fieldhouse will start at 11 a.m. on Friday and run through Saturday.
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