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Indoor Track & Field Weekly Release

Bulls Set Season’s Bests in Final Tuneup for MAC’s

Nearly every competitor for the University at Buffalo’s men’s and women’s track and field teams improved on their top marks at Akron’s Zips Open as the Bulls tuned up for the final time before this week’s Mid-American Conference Championships. There was no team scoring in the meet as the Bulls won four events on the evening with the men’s and women’s teams taking two apiece.

Johnston Posts Season Bests, Inches Closer to ECAC’s

Octavia Johnston

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 also winning the event 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.

Women’s Weight Throwers Continue Strong Efforts

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, last week’s 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). Meanwhile, another of UB’s top women’s throwers, junior Tina Villa (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs) finished third in the shot put at 46-2.75 (14.09m). Vance and Villa have already qualified for postseason competition and could prove to be a strong one-two punch for the Bulls at the MAC meet.

Men’s Jumpers Sweep in Akron

Roy Richards

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 this weekend. 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. The triple jump was limited in the number of entrants, however, as Brandon Stewart (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) and Rayshon Higgins (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon-St. Jude) fouled on their attempts, leaving just Edwards and Ashland’s Joe Spitaro (38-7.75, 11.78m) with acceptable leaps.

Three’s the Charm in Akron, This Time, It’s the MAC’s

The Bulls could have very possibly just stayed in Akron for the week. Akron hosts the MAC Championships on Friday and Satruday as the Bulls will send their full lineup for the competition. It’s the third time this month that the squad has competed in Akron following last week’s Zips Open and the Akron Open on February 2-3. At last season’s MAC Championships in Bowling Green, the UB men finished fifth while the women placed ninth. The Bulls posted four MAC titles and three second-place finishes in one of their most successful MAC Championships in school history.