Track and Field Opens Outdoor Schedule at UNCW Meet

Dan Giza

WILMINGTON, NC – The University at Buffalo men’s and women's track and field teams opened the outdoor schedule at the UNCW Seahawk Invitational. The UB men (172) finished second behind the host Seahawks (272). The UB women (132) finished a half-point behind Colonial Athletic Association indoor champion Northeastern (132.5) in third place, while UNCW took the top spot (273.5). Eleven teams made up both the men's and women's fields.

In all, the Bulls picked up eight first-place finishes, highlighted by the two distance track victories by Dan Giza (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster). Giza won the 1,500-meters in 3:59.27 and followed with a win in the 5,000-meters in 14:57.88.

Vanessa Roelofsen

Mary Veith (Derby, NY/Lake Shore) took the women's 5,000-meter run with a clocking of 18:05.23 for the only other UB victory on the track.

The UB field athletes did the bulk of the scoring with five wins. Senior Vanessa Roelofsen (Alma, Ontario/Norwell District SS) took the women's javelin throw with a toss of 46.72 meters to qualify for the NCAA East Regional Championships at the end of May in Tallahassee, FL. Freshman Katie Weston (North Bay, Ontario/Widdifield SS) finished second in the event at 42.50 meters.

Fatimah Hill

Other women's winners in the field events included Tiffany Maskulinski (Elma, NY/Iroquois) and Fatimah Hill (Waterport, NY/Lyndonville). Maskulinski took the pole vault with a final height of 3.70 meters. Hill turned in a personal-best with her victory in the high jump at 1.70 meters. UB teammate Caitlin Godin (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) finished second to Hill in the high jump, also clearing 1.70 meters.

For the UB men, Loic Sebuharara (Vestal, NY/Vestal) won the triple jump at 13.97 meters. George Fetchko (Warren, OH/Howland) led a strong contingent of men's weight throwers with a first-place finish in the shot put (16.17m) and a second-place showing in the hammer throw (47.80m). Second-place finishes were also turned in by men's weight throwers Alex Stamatakis (Hania, Crete, Greece/First Technical and Vocational School of Crete) in the shot put (16.00m) and Matt Gac (Newark Valley, NY/Newark Valley) in the discus (46.53m).

George Fetchko

Other second-place finishes for the Bulls included Ryan Zillmann (Deer Park, NY/Half Hollow Hills West) in the men's 1,500-meters in a personal-best 4:00.35 and Jessica Schultz (Rochester, NY./Eastridge) in the women's 1,500-meters in 4:50.80, setting her personal best. Christine Sprehe (Boston, NY/Orchard Park) placed second in the 800-meters in 2:19.68 while Gillian Taylor (Bergen, NY/Byron-Bergen) was third in 2:22.66.

A trio of UB relay teams also posted second-place finishes. The women's 4x400-meter relay squad of Allison Grimes (Georgetown, Texas/Georgetown), Natalie Fildes (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca East), Sprehe and Leah Grasmeyer (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango) clocked a 4:06.98. The men's 4x100-meter relay team of Daniel Schichtel (Eden, NY/Eden), Ezekiel Porter (Rochester, NY/East), James Graber (West Seneca, NY/Bishop Timon-St. Jude) and Brandon Giles (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) finished in 41.90. The men's 4x400-meter squad of John Bauman (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville North), Zillmann, John Conners (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) and Brendan Hagerty (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) also took second in 3:22.54.

The squads return to the Tar Heel State next weekend for the Wake Forest Open in Winston-Salem.