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Bulls Post Season's Bests in Final Prep for MAC's

Octavia Johnston

AKRON, OH – Nearly every competitor for the University at Buffalo’s men’s and women’s track and field teams improved on their top marks as the Bulls tuned up for the final time before next week’s Mid-American Conference Championships with the Zips Open. There was no team scoring in the meet. The Bulls won four events on the evening with the women taking two and the men also winning a pair.

Freshman Octavia Johnston (Syracuse, NY/Fowler) posted two season-best performances in her events. Johnston won the women’s triple jump at 37-1.25 (11.31m), bettering her previous best by nearly four feet and winning the event also by four feet. Johnston also lowered her top time in the 60-meter dash, placing second in 7.75 seconds, one-hundredth off her best of 7.76, and one-hundredth of a second shy of qualifying for the ECAC Championships (7.74). Akron’s Latalia Jones won the 60-meters in 7.72 seconds.

Senior Sarah Vance (Lockport, NY/Lockport) continued her dominance in the women’s shot put. Vance had a winning throw of 51-6.50 (15.71m) to defeat Akron’s Stevi Large, the current MAC Field Athlete of the Week, by a foot. Vance finished fourth to Large in the women’s weight throw at 55-9 (16.99). Large bettered her own MAC and Akron record in the weight throw to win at 66-7.25 (20.30m).

On the men’s side, senior Roy Richards (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) rolled to another win in his specialty event, the long jump. Richards, the UB record holder in the event, won on Friday with a leap of 23-10.75 (7.28m), defeating Akron’s Johnny Adams by 13 inches. Richards is the defending MAC and IC4A indoor long jump champion and should contend for his second MAC title at the same Akron facility next weekend.

Kyle Edwards

Freshman Kyle Edwards also took home first place honors for the Bulls, winning the men’s triple jump with a leap of 44-0.75 (13.43m), tying his season’s best mark in the event. Edwards also finished fourth in the long jump at 21-0.75 (6.42m).

UB’s women’s pole vaulters also had strong performances with Jessica Lister (Rodman, NY/South Jefferson) taking second with a season-best mark of 12-0 (3.66m) to improve on her ECAC qualifying height. Carrie Hinners (Maple Grove, MN/Maple Grove) tied for third in the competition also clearing 12-0 (3.66m), a season-best for the junior and an ECAC qualifying mark.

The full team will return to the Akron Fieldhouse for next weekend’s MAC Championships on Friday and Saturday, February 23-24. The UB men finished fifth last season while the women placed ninth. The Bulls posted four MAC titles and three second-place finishes at last season’s competition held at Bowling Green.