Women's track and field finishes first in Ohio

The words of UB's head track and field coach, Vicki Mitchell, resonated with Buffalo's athletes as they faced tough Mid-American Conference competition and both the men's and the women's teams came out in the top five.

"We are from Buffalo and we are made for tough conditions!" Mitchell proclaimed.

The University at Buffalo women's track and field team battled to their second win of the outdoor season at the Ohio Invitational in Athens on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the men's team had to face tougher competition, including several MAC schools, but the Bulls raced hard and finished in fourth place.

"The men had a very strong meet across the board. They were ready to compete," said Mitchell.

The men's team just missed the top three and claimed fourth place with 89 points. The nine-team field was led by the host-Universities Ohio and Kent State, who had to share the number one spot with 151 team points.

The Bulls had to face not only other teams, but also the difficult conditions that transformed the meet into a true fight for the Bulls.

"It is imperative in track and field to have the correct focus for competition. Focus should be on key factors that will lead to great performances on the field or track," said Mitchell. "Weather conditions are not within our control, so there is no sense worrying about them. Rather, the focus must be on a simply competing for a place, going for a top time or distance."

A long way ahead of the rest field, the women's team finished with 175 team points. The victories turned in by Faith Thompson, Sarah Vance, Jessica Lister, and Jenny Koeppel put a large distance between Buffalo and the runner-up team, Kent State, and also earned the Bulls their second team victory of the season.

Thompson has been leading the women's team through the entire season but still Saturday's meet was special.

"Faith is an amazing athlete with great drive and focus. Her performances on Saturday were nothing short of impressive," said Mitchell.

Thompson set the new record for the Goldsburry Track at Pruitt Field in the hammer throw. Her throw of 186 feet broke the previous record of UB's Sarah Fletcher in 2002. Thompson's distance beat the second place finisher by more then 26 feet.

Thompson also recorded her second record of the day in the shot put. Her throw of 47-5.25 feet broke the old stadium record and earned the senior her second victory of the meet.

Another notable aspect of Thompson's performance is the fact that she scored those records in poor conditions, which also impressed Mitchell.

"Given the rough weather conditions, her performances were even more outstanding. It is unheard of to break stadium records in the throwing events in rain, wind, snow, and cold temperatures. She did incredible," Mitchell said.

Other victories for the Bulls included Vance, who scored first place in the women's discus with a throw of 134-2 feet and Lister, who posted her first victory of the season in the pole vault with a jump of 10 feet.

On the track the only win for the Bulls was claimed by Jenny Koeppel in the 1,500-meter run. Facing the cold and the snow, Koeppel had to fight throughout the entire race ultimately finishing in 4:45.10.

"Jenny has the ability to focus on the appropriate task, competing in the race against her opponents and factors within her control. Jenny had her race strategy set and she went after the win very successfully," said Mitchell.

The UB men's track and field team came home with four victories in its possession.

Gary Asbach collected two wins by rolling over his opponents in the long jump and in the triple jump. He finished first at 22-1.50 feet in the long jump event and he scored his second victory with a 44-12.5 foot performance in the triple jump.

"Gary had another very solid performance. He started off with a win in the long jump and that certainly aided his confidence going into the triple jump," said Mitchell.

The Bulls were also strong on the track and were able to claim two victories.

Dan McKenna took first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 9:27.64, while Todd Joki raced to first place in the 110-meter hurdles. He finished in 15.08, which was only one-hundredth of a second faster than the second place scorer Keith Roberts from Kent State.

The Bulls are in action next weekend at the Bison Open in Lewisburg, Pa.