ATHENS, OH - With a pair of meets in North Carolina under their belts, the University at Buffalo's men's and women's track teams returned north to compete in the McDonald's Invitational, hosted by Ohio University. UB's women took first place among nine schools scoring 209 points. Meanwhile, the UB men placed fourth among nine with 97 points as Eastern Michigan took the meet with 241 points.

Sarah Fletcher

UB's women had six first-place finishers in the 20-event meet. Allison Laske (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) won the 800 meters in 2:13.78. Christina Keck (Erie, PA/McDowell) took the 1500 meters in 4:40.93. Keck also placed fourth behind Laske in the 800 meters in 2:16.87. Hollie Rhodes (Elmira, NY/Elmira Southside) won the 5000 meters in 17:45.40. Laura Olson (Lyons, NY/Lyons) was victorious in the pole vault at 11-0 (3.35m). Sarah Fletcher (Ridgeway, Ontario/Ridgeway-Crystal Beach) took the hammer throw at 179-11 (54.84m), placed second in the discus at 141-7 (43.15m) and third in the javelin 107-10 (32.87m). The Bulls also claimed the top two spots in the triple jump as Biaunca McFarland (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) won at 38-10.50 (11.85m) while teammate Bernadette Boswell (Yonkers, NY/Roosevelt) was second at 38-1.50 (11.62m).

Pete Otovic

In the men's meet, UB's 4x400 relay team of Pete Otovic (DeWitt, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt), Bryan Weinstein (Getzville, NY/Williamsville North), Uchechukwa Uche (Rochester, NY/East Rochester) and Joe Clark (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home) were victorious taking the race in 3:17.55 for the lone win by the Bulls. Otovic also took third in the 400 meters in 49.55 while Clark finished fourth in the 200 meters in 22.51.

Throwers Byron McKinney (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home) and Joe Loiacono (Rochester, NY/Greece-Olympia) had second and third place finishes on Saturday. McKinney was the runner-up in the shot put at 52-7 (16.03m) while Loaicono placed second in the discus at 149-5 (45.54m). Loiacono also finished third behind McKinney in the shot put at 49-5.25 (15.07m) while McKinney was UB's top placer in the hammer with his third place toss of 157-7 (48.03m).

Todd Ludden (Hornell, NY/Hornell) took third in the 1500 meters in 3:56.70 while Chris Lenz (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South) also brought home a third place finish in the 400 hurdles in 55.82.

The meet featured several Mid-American Conference schools in the field including Bowling Green, Toledo, men's champion Eastern Michigan and the host Ohio University.

UB heads to Knoxville, Tenn. for next weekend's Sea Ray Relays where they again will see some of the top collegiate competition in the nation.