Men Third, Women Fourth at Akron Meet

UB tracksters complete Northeast Ohio Invitational
AKRON, OH – The University at Buffalo men’s and women’s track and field teams saw Mid-American Conference rivals Akron and Kent State as well as non-league foes Youngstown State and Ashland Saturday as the Northeast Ohio Invitational concluded in Akron. The UB men placed third with 92 points while the women finished fourth with 64 points in the five-team meets. Host Akron swept the meets as the men scored 219 points while the Zips women finished with 217 points.

UB picked up four first-place finishes led by a record-setting 4x100-meter relay victory. The foursome of Bryan Weinstein (Getzville, NY/Williamsville North), Reggie Rucker (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech), James Graber (West Seneca, NY/Bishop Timon-St. Jude) and Roy Richards (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) won the race in 41.06, cutting .45 seconds off the previous mark set in 2002.

Rob McRae

Freshman sprinter Rob McRae (Rexford, NY/Shenendehowa) won the 400-meters in 47.92, the fastest by a Bull in the event this season. Dan Giza (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) won the 3,000-meter run in 8:41.83 while Kate Kohout (Clarence, NY/Clarence) was the lone UB woman to win an event as she took the 800-meter run in 2:12.56.

Kate Kohout

Dana Ventrone (Pittsburgh, PA/Chartiers Valley), Vanessa Roelofson (Alma, Ontario/Norwell District SS) and Caitlin Godin (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) finished second in field events for the UB women. Ventrone took second in the long jump at 16-4.50 (4.99m) while Roelofson finished second in the javelin throw with a toss of 163-11 (49.97m). Godin tied for second in the high jump with four other athletes at 5-3 (1.60m). Ventrone also posted the best triple jump for a UB woman this season with her third-place finish at 33-8.75 (10.28m).

Roy Richards (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) earned a second-place finish in the triple jump with a season-best leap of 45-6.50 (13.88m). He posted a season-best in the 100-meters in 10.80, finishing third overall.

Brian Heim

The men's 4x400-meter relay team of McRae, Brian Heim (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville East), Babaseyi Olaleye (Lagos, Nigeria/Lagos) and Weinstein posted a second-place finish in 3:17.77.

P.J. Godios (Hamburg, NY/St. Francis) established a new personal-best and a season-best with his 179-5 (54.68m) javelin toss. The throw improved his best mark by more than nine feet as he finished third in the event. Other third place finishes for the UB men included Heim in the 400-meter hurdles (53.46), Rucker in the long jump (21-5.25, 6.53m) and Loic Sebuharara (Vestal, NY/Vestal) in the triple jump (44-9, 13.64m).

Several Bulls will be participating in next weekend's Penn Relays in Philadelphia while other squad members will compete at the Gina Relays at Hillsdale College.

04/22/2006