Track and Field Weekly Release

Bulls Win 11 Events at Cornell Outdoor Invitational

The University at Buffalo men’s and women’s track teams posted strong results at the Cornell Outdoor Invitational Saturday at the Robert J. Kane Sports Complex. The UB men took home seven first-place finishes while the women won four events. Two Bulls qualified for the USATF Junior Nationals this summer while two Bulls set two stadium records.

Men’s Sprinters Carry the Day

Ezekiel Porter

UB’s men’s sprinters gave the Bulls three of their victories on Saturday. Brian Smith (North Tonawanda, NY/Nichols) won the men’s 200-meters in 21.30. The time broke the UB school record of 21.44 set by Joe Clark in 2003 and tied by Ezekiel Porter (Rochester, NY/East) earlier in the 2008 campaign. Smith’s time also was an NCAA regional and junior national qualifying mark. Porter, meanwhile, won the 400-meters in 47.86, establishing a new stadium record. He was also part of UB’s victorious 4x400-meter relay team as the foursome of Ryan Zillmann (Deer Park, NY/Half Hollow Hills West), Porter, Brandon Giles (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) and Josh Thomas (Cedar Hill, TX/Cedar Hill) set a season-best of 3:18.25. Thomas, a cornerback with the football team, joined the sprint crew for the spring.

Season’s Bests Turned in on Track

The UB men won a pair of distance events while the women turned in a pair of season-best performances in their victories. In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Ryan Bloom (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport) took the race in 9:37.35, posting a season-best time and earning a junior national qualifying time. Dan Giza (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) won the men’s 1,500-meters in 3:58.03. For the women, Nicole Soblosky (Colonie, NY/Colonie) won the 3,000-meter run in a season-best 10:33.50 and Allison Grimes (Georgetown, TX/Georgetown) posted another season-best in the 400-meters, taking the race in 58.00. Grimes sliced .39 seconds from her previous best, posted two weeks ago at the UB Invitational.

Strong in the Field

Caitlin Godin

In the field events, UB’s George Fetchko (Warren, OH/Howland) took the shot put with a throw of 54-10 (16.71m), establishing a season-best and a Kane Complex record. Alex Stamatakis (Hania, Crete, Greece/First Technical and Vocational School of Crete) won the men’s discus with a throw of 165-8 (50.49m). Two UB women also won field events. Caitlin Godin (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) took the high jump at 5-5 (1.65m) while Tiffany Maskulinski (Elma, NY/Iroquois) won the women’s pole vault at 11-11.75 (3.65m). Carrie Hinners (Maple Grove, MN/Maple Grove) finished second to Maskulinski at 10-6 (3.20m).