TRACK & FIELD

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YPSILANTI, MI - Junior Sarah Fletcher (Crystal Beach, Ontario/Crystal Beach-Ridgeway) became the University at Buffalo's first Mid-American Conference champion at the MAC Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend at Eastern Michigan University.

Fletcher led a UB contingent that saw eight Bulls' athletes place in the top eight, including four others that finished in the top three. Fletcher's performance helped the UB women place seventh of 11 schools with 25 points, while the UB men were tenth with 19.5 points.

Fletcher won the 25-pound weight throw with a toss of 58-2", which also provisionally qualifies her for the NCAA Championships, and won by nearly two feet over her nearest competitor. Fletcher, who transferred to UB from Illinois State this year, was just short of her own school record (58-6¹/₂) which she set two weeks ago.

The Bulls also got strong performances on the women's side of the competition from Udo Okeke (Seattle, WA/Lagos), Sarah Kranzler (Central Square, NY/Paul V. Moore) and Melissa Ryan (Oswego, NY/Oswego). Okeke, a junior, finished second in the 800-meters in a time of 2:12.97, while Kranzler -just a sophomore -was sixth in the pentathlon with 3,306 points. Ryan, a senior, placed seventh in the 60-meter high hurdles with a time of :08.95 and set a new school record in her heat race with a time of :08.85.

Okeke also teamed with Diane Corredor (Westfield, NY/Westfield), Christina Keck (Erie, PA/McDowell) and Casey Spencer (Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post) to finish seventh in the distance medley relay.

The UB men also had several outstanding performances. Junior Kamau Halim (Medina, NY/Medina) placed second in the triple jump with a leap of 48-2³/₄ to earn the Bulls' eight points. Senior Rashidi Greene (Webster, NY/Webster) was third in the 35-pound weight throw with a toss of 58-10 while freshman Steve Esler (Rochester, NY/Aquinas) had a tremendous performance in the men's heptathlon. Esler smashed the school record with 4,656 points to finish sixth.

Also earning points for the Bulls was Jason Liddle (Delhi, NY/Delaware Academy) and the 4x400-meter relay team. Liddle was seventh in the pole vault by clearing 15-1" while the team of Pete Otovic (DeWitt, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt), Brian Williams (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), Mike Commisso (Fulton, NY/G. Ray Bodley) and Dave Monk (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South) was eighth in 3:22.48.