Patrice Coney, Vanessa Roelofsen Win MAC Titles

Patrice Coney

OXFORD, OH – The University at Buffalo had two women earn Mid-American Conference titles as the Bulls moved into second place in the team standings after the second day of action at the MAC Track and Field Championships at George L. Rider Track in Oxford, OH. The UB men moved up to fifth place with strong second-day showings.

Patrice Coney (Lyons, NY/Lyons) earned her first outdoor MAC title and completed a sweep of the indoor and outdoor multi-event titles with her victory in the women’s heptathlon on Friday. Coney, who led by 119 points after Thursday’s first four events, went on to extend her margin on Friday and become the first UB woman to score more than 5,000 points in the competition, setting the school record in the process.

Coney scored a total of 5,116 points in the seven-event competition to win the title by nearly 300 points over Western Michigan’s Danielle Brown. On Friday, Coney won the long jump event at 18-5 (5.61m), bettering her season-best mark by nearly a foot and finished second in the final event of the competition, the 800-meters in 2:19:47. Her point total exceeded Meagan Rogers’ total of 4,921 in the 2003 championships and was enough to give Coney a provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June. Coney won the MAC title in the pentathlon in March’s indoor championships.

Vanessa Roelofsen

Vanessa Roelofsen (Alma, Ontario/Norwell District SS), after two second-place finishes in 2005 and 2006, earned her first MAC title with her victory in the women’s javelin. Roelofsen won the competition with a throw of 147-9 (45.03m), scoring the winning mark on her second attempt of the final round. She posted the top throw of 144-6 (44.04m) in the preliminary round.

UB’s women had a pair of scorers in the shot put as Tina Villa (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs) and Sarah Vance (Lockport, NY/Lockport) placed third and fourth, respectively. Villa improved on her NCAA East Regional qualifying distance with a toss of 49-7 (15.11m) for her third-place mark. Vance threw 49-6.25 (15.09m). Vance finished second on Thursday in the women’s hammer throw.

Fatimah Hill (Waterport, NY/Lyndonville) finished seventh in the women’s long jump at 18-10 (5.74m).

The UB men had three scorers in the long jump as Roy Richards (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) led the contingent with a third-place finish. Richards improved on his team-best and NCAA East Regional qualifying mark with his leap of 24-2.50 (7.38m). Todd Joki (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) was fourth with a season-best 23-4 (7.11m) and Rayshon Higgins (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon-St. Jude) placed seventh with a season-best 22-3.50 (6.79m).

Joki also finished third in the decathlon with a total of 6,351 points. On Friday, Joki won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.76 seconds. Freshman teammate Russell Cameron (Ballston Lake, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) placed fifth with 6,235 points. Cameron was second in the 1,500-meters (4:39.47) and third in the javelin (157-8, 48.07m) on Friday.

Men’s shot putters Jake Madonia (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and George Fetchko (Warren, OH/Howland) scored for the Bulls. Madonia took sixth with a toss of 55-6.25 (16.92m) while Fetchko was eight with a season-best 53-0.25 (16.16m).

Reggie Rucker

The Bulls also had several individuals qualify for finals on Saturday on the track, led by Reggie Rucker (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech). Rucker, the UB record holder in both hurdles events this year, was the fastest qualifier in the men’s 110-meter hurdles in 14.32, just seven-hundredths off his school record. Rucker also qualified for Saturday’s 400-meter hurdles final with a clocking of 53.89. Joki also qualified in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.82, seventh on Friday.

Ezekiel Porter (Rochester, NY/East) qualified for two sprint finals on Saturday. He was the seventh-fastest in the 100-meters in 10.85 and ninth-fastest in the 200-meters in 21.62.

Kate Kohout (Clarence, NY/Clarence) and John Bauman (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville North) qualified in the women’s and men’s 800-meters, respectively. Kohout turned in a season-best 2:14.16 to place third in the preliminaries while Bauman also collected a season best with his time of 1:53.13 for ninth among the men. Mary Veith (Derby, NY/Lake Shore) qualified for the women’s 1,500-meter final with her 4:40.38, sixth-fastest on Friday. The top 10 finishers in the heats move into the finals.

Competition concludes on Saturday.

Men's scores (through eight events): Kent State 77, Akron 60, Eastern Michigan 58, Central Michigan 43, UB 38, Miami (OH) 19, Ohio 17.

Women's scores (through eight events): Akron 59, UB 44, Western Michigan 35, Ohio 33, Bowling Green 25, Toledo 23, Ball State 23, Central Michigan 22, Miami (OH) 15, Eastern Michigan 15, Northern Illinois 12, Kent State 8.