Faith Thompson

ATHENS, OH – The University at Buffalo opened the 2005 Mid-American Conference Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Championships with some strong performance as the Thursday’s opening day of competition at Ohio University’s Goldsberry Track concluded.

UB’s Faith Thompson (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) won her first MAC outdoor title with her record-setting victory in the women’s hammer throw. Thompson broke her own UB, MAC and Ohio track record with her toss of 198-10 (60.60m). The throw was 16 feet better than second-place finisher Kristi Ford of Western Michigan (182-10, 55.74m). Thompson also added 16 inches onto her existing record, most recently set at the Bucknell Bison Open on April 16. Thompson had also previously set the Goldsberry Track hammer throw record when she won the Ohio Invitational on April 2. She has now won the hammer throw in seven of UB’s eight meets this season.

UB’s Sarah Vance (Lockport, NY/Lockport) finished third in Thursday’s competition with a toss of 182-6 (55.62m), improving her season-best by seven feet and qualifying her for the NCAA East Regionals in two weeks.

Todd Joki

Decathlete Todd Joki (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) and heptathlete Patrice Coney (Lyons, NY/Lyons) lead after the first day of their competitions.

Joki scored 3,872 points after the first five events of the decathlon to hold a 94-point lead over Central Michigan’s Jacob Friess. Joki won two events and placed second in two more on Thursday. Joki won the 100-meter dash in 11.12 seconds and the long jump at 23-10 (7.26m). He also placed second in the 400-meters (50.01) and shot put (40-10.50, 12.46m).

Patrice Coney

Coney, meanwhile, holds a slim lead after four events in the heptathlon. She scored 3,082 points with Eastern Michigan’s Chrystal Dooley second (3,062) and Western Michigan’s Katie Pickette (3,037) third. Coney did not win any of Thursday’s first four events, but did score a pair of second-place finishes in the 200-meters (25.21) and high jump (5-4.25, 1.63m).

Jenny Koeppel (Amherst, NY/Amherst) finished fourth in the women’s 10,000-meters in 35:50.65 while Andy Wigton (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) was ninth in the men’s 10,000-meter race in 31:19.26.

With two events complete in the women’s competition, UB leads with 21 points. Ball State is second with 12 points and Central Michigan is third at 10 points. Kent State (8), Western Michigan (8), Akron (5), Northern Illinois (5), Ohio (4), Toledo (3) and Bowling Green (2) round out the scoring as all 13 league members are included in the women’s field.

UB has been shutout through the first four men’s events and stands seventh among the seven entrants. Central Michigan holds a commanding lead with 59 points, followed by Miami (35), Kent State (30), Akron (23.5), Eastern Michigan (6.5), Ohio (2) and UB (0), round out the field with two days of competition remaining.