Track and Field Wraps Up MAC Championships

Tina Villa Wins MAC Title in Shot Put
YPSILANTI, MI - The University at Buffalo men’s and women’s track and field team’s concluded competition at the 2008 Mid-American Conference Championships on Saturday. UB’s women finished the Championships in sixth place, scoring 50.50 points while the men ended tied for fourth place with 47 points. Akron won the women’s competition with 106 points while Eastern Michigan took the men’s crown with 207 points.

Tina Villa

Tina Villa (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs) continued her outstanding season, claiming the MAC Championship in the shot put with a NCAA provisional mark and personal best distance of 15.59m.

Mary Veith (Derby, NY/Lake Shore) also had a solid showing on the women’s side, claiming third place in the mile run (5:00.36) and fourth place in the 3000-meter run (10:00.49). Also in the mile, Christine Sprehe (Boston, NY/Orchard Park) ran her debut mile, winning the unseeded section and placing 13th overall in 5:06.95.

Mary Veith

In the 60-meter hurdles, Patrice Coney (Lyons, NY/Lyons) set a new school record in the event, finishing sixth while turning in a time of 8.60.

Other scorers on the women’s side included Lataya Dixon (Edison, NJ/J.P. Stevens), who scored third place in the high jump (1.68m) and Jessica Cooper (Long Beach, CA/Long Beach Polytechnic), who claimed eighth place in the triple jump (11.45m).

Ezekiel Porter

On the men’s side, Ezekiel Porter (Rochester, NY/Rochester) had an excellent showing in the 60-meter dash, taking second place with a season-best time of 6.86. In addition, Porter earned points for the Bulls in the 200-meter dash, placing sixth (22.16).

Other point-scorers on the men’s side included Dan Giza (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) who placed fourth in the 3000-meter run (8:26.39), Ryan Zillmann (Deer Park, NY/Half Hollow Hills West) who ran a personal best in the 800-meter run to finish second in 1:54.78 and Jamal Norward (Buffalo, NY/Hamburg) who took fifth place in the 60-meter hurdles (8.38). Additionally, Loic Sebuharara (Vestal, NY/Vestal) placed fifth in the triple jump (14.42m) and Eugene Kennedy (Troy, NY/Troy) took fifth place in the high jump (2.04m).

Dan Giza

Three Buffalo athletes earned All-MAC honors, as Villa was named to the First Team, while Coney and Porter earned Second Team honors.

The Bulls return to action next weekend, as a handful of athletes will participate in the ECAC/IC4A Championships in Boston, MA.

03/01/2008