Bulls Earn Seven Spots on Academic All-MAC Indoor Track Team

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo placed seven athletes on the Academic All-Mid-American Conference Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field Teams, the league announced from its Cleveland headquarters this morning.

Honored from the women's program are Caitlin Godin, Jessica Schultz, Mary Veith and Tina Villa. Named from the men's squad are Jacob Hagen, Jake Madonia and Dan Schichtel.

Caitlin Godin

Godin, a senior environmental design major with a 3.726 GPA,finished fourth in the women’s pentathlon at the MAC Championships with 3,652 points, qualifying for ECAC Championships. A high-jumper normally, this was her first season competing in the pentathlon. Godin was also named to the Academic All-MAC Outdoor Track Team in 2007.

Jessica Schultz

Schultz, a senior history major with a 3.499 GPA, placed sixth in the 3,000-meters (10:08.10) at the MAC Championships. She also ran the anchor leg of the UB's distance medley relay (11:53.35) at the MAC meet, finishing third and setting an ECAC qualifying time. For the 2009 indoor season, Schultz posted top times of 5:00.32 in the mile, set at the New Balance Invitational and 17:46.15 in the 5,000-meters at the Cornell Upstate Challenge.

Mary Veith

Veith, a senior chemistry major with a 3.710 GPA, set season-best times with a fifth-place finish in the mile (4:55.87) and 12th-place finish in the 3,000-meters (10:13.61) at the MAC Championships. She also ran the opening leg of the distance medley relay (11:53.35) at the meet. In her career, Veith has also been named to Academic All-MAC Cross Country teams from 2006-08, Outdoor Track in 2007 and 2008 and Indoor Track in 2007.

Tina Villa

Villa, a senior management major with a 3.782 GPA, finished fourth in the shot put with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 50-0.50 (15.25m). In the 2008 indoor season, she earned First-Team All-MAC, Academic All-MAC and an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 1 honors and won the Clifford C. Furnas Award, UB’s highest athletic and academic honor. Villa was also an Academic All-MAC indoor and outdoor selection in 2007.

Jacob Hagen

Hagen, a sophomore exercise science major with a 3.488 GPA, finished 10th at the MAC Championships in the 3,000- (8:44.95) and 5,000-meters (15:23.09). As UB’s top distance runner during the indoor season, he set season-bests of 8:32.99 in 3,000-meters at the New Balance Invitational and 15:08.92 in 5,000-meters at Doug Raymond Invitational.

Jake Madonia

Madonia, a junior psychology major with a 3.391 GPA, sat out the 2008 indoor and outdoor seasons with cancer. Competitive again in 2009, he earned a third-place finish in the shot put (56-3, 17.14m) at the MAC Championships, setting a season-best mark, and earning an IC4A qualifying mark with the toss. Madonia was also named to the Academic All-MAC Outdoor Track squad in 2007.

Dan Schichtel

Schichtel, a junior managment major with a 3.284 GPA, reached the finals of the 60-meter dash at the MAC Championships, placing seventh in the final in 6.97 seconds. He also finished 10th at the MAC meet in the 200-meter dash in 22.38. One of UB's top men's sprinters, Schichtel set season-best marks of 6.92 seconds in the 60-meters and 22.20 in the 200-meters, both were IC4A qualifying times. He was also named to the Academic All-MAC Indoor and Outdoor Track teams in 2008.

The seven overall selections tied the Bulls for second with Central Michigan, trailing only Akron's nine nods. A total of 31 student-athletes were named to the women’s team, while 16 student-athletes were named to the men’s team. The number of honorees on the MAC All-Academic Team are the number that is set for the specific sport or 33 percent of the number of nominees, whichever is greater. The voting is done by the faculty athletic representatives at MAC institutions.

The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.