Faith Thompson

BUFFALO, NY - University at Buffalo women's track and field athlete Faith Thompson (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) was named the Mid-American Conference Women's Field Athlete of the Week, the league announced in Cleveland. This is the first weekly award for the outdoor track and field season. The league also announced that for the 2005 outdoor season, the awards will be given each week to an outstanding men's and women's track athlete as well as a field athlete.

Thompson won the league honor after posting a pair of victories in the season-opening Seahawk Invitational in Wilmington, NC on March 19. A fifth-year senior, Thompson qualified for May's NCAA East Regional meet in the shot put and the hammer throw. She won the shot put with a school-record toss of 48-11.5 (14.92m) and took the hammer throw at 187-9 (57.23m), just one inch shy of Sarah Fletcher's 2002 school record in the event. Both throws established new personal bests for Thompson. UB's women won the seven-team competition with 184 points.

UB's track and field squads will compete this weekend at North Carolina State's Raleigh Relays, one of the largest events on the East Coast.