KNOXVILLE, TN - The University at Buffalo sent its top athletes to the Sea Ray Relays at the University of Tennessee over the weekend. The men's and women's squads turned in impressive marks at the nationally-recognized event against some of the top collegiate track and field athletes from the eastern half of the United States.

Byron McKinney

The most impressive performances were turned in by shot putters Byron McKinney (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home) and Joe Loiacono (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena). The duo tied for second in the open portion of the competition with tosses of 54-7.25 (16.64m). The distance gave each a share of the school record, previously set by McKinney at the Raleigh Relays two weeks ago of 53-10.5 (16.42m). Purdue's Scott Hecht won the competition at 56-10 (17.32m). Loiacono also turned in a sixth-place finish in the discus at 162-7 (49.56m) while McKinney placed 18th in the hammer toss at 157-7 (48.03m).

Joe Loiacono

Sprinter Joe Clark (Buffalo, NY/Sweet Home) also set a school record as he completed the 400 meters in 47.63 to place 22nd. The record broke Fumu Gakodi's mark of 48.12 set in 1994. Distance specialist Rick Stewart (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca West) placed third in the 3000 steeplechase in 9:32.42 behind runners from Minnesota and Indiana State. Todd Ludden placed 13th in the 5000 meters in 15:23.70. Eric Czubaj (Buffalo, NY/John F. Kennedy) was 25th in the 1500 meters in 3:55.45.

In the women's meet,

Faith Thompson

Faith Thompson (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) set the shot put record at 43-1.75 (13.15m) to place 17th overall. It broke her mark of 42-10.5 (13.07m) set last season. Melissa Burrows (Norwood, NY/Norwood-Norfolk) took second in the 5000 meters in 17:58.18 finishing behind Auburn's Erica Braswell, who finished in 17:38.51. Hollie Rhodes (Elmira, NY/Elmira Southside) placed sixth in the 3000 steeplechase in 11:13.37, just two seconds off her school record set earlier this season. Sarah Fletcher (Ridgeway, Ontario/Ridgeway-Crystal Beach) turned in a sixth place finish in the hammer throw at 178-5.25 (54.39m) while Thompson was 21st at 147-1.25 (44.84m). Christina Keck (Erie, PA/McDowell) was 22nd in the 800 meters in 2:12.69.

The Bulls are at the Chancellor's Cup meet next weekend in Binghamton.