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Second Day of MAC Championships Complete

Mike Giordano

After eight events, the UB women stand in 11th place with 14 points in the 12-team competition. The UB men are seventh in the seven-team field with 11 points. Akron's women (49) and Kent State's men (57) remain in first place for the team championships.

Only eight events produced champions on Friday with the bulk of the competition on the track consisting of semifinal rounds for Saturday's finals. UB scored championship points in the men's and women's shot put events as well as the men's long jump on Friday.

The UB men scored a pair of individuals in the shot put as senior Mike Giordano (Springville, NY/Springville) placed fourth with a toss of 53-3.75 (16.25m). The finish for Giordano improved on his seventh-place showing at last season's MAC Championships. Freshman Jake Madonia (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) earned a point in his first league championship meet with his eighth-place throw of 48-8.75 (14.85m).

Tina Villa

Scoring for the UB women on Friday was sophomore Tina Villa (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs) in the women's shot put. Villa achieved a new personal best with her throw of 46-0.75 (14.04m), bettering her previous best mark by more than eight inches, and earning a seventh-place finish.

Roy Richards (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) fell short of completing the indoor and outdoor long jump sweep. Richards, who won the MAC and IC4A indoor long jump titles in March, finished sixth in Friday's outdoor long jump. He scored his best leap of the day on his final attempt, clearing 23-6 (7.16m), for the sixth-place showing. Ohio's Scott Mayle won the title with a leap of 25-0 (7.62m).

The Bulls qualified several athletes for Saturday's championship finals.

In the men's 400-meter hurdles, junior Brian Heim (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville East) was the fastest qualifier for Saturday's final. The 2004 MAC champion and 2005 league runner-up in the event, posted a time of 53.78 in the heats.

Kate Kohout (Clarence, NY/Clarence) turned in the second-fastest qualifying time in the women's 800-meters on Friday with a 2:13.56 clocking. Paul Riley (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) was the fourth-fastest qualifier in the men's 800-meters with his time of 1:55.06.

UB also placed a pair of qualifiers in the men's and women's 1,500-meter finals on Saturday. In the men's race, sophomore Dan Giza (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) turned in a 4:01.62 clocking while freshman Mary Veith (Derby, NY/Lake Shore) finished in 4:43.10 in the women's race. Both athletes were ninth in the preliminaries as the top 10 finishers move on to the finals.

Senior Bryan Weinstein (Getzville, NY/Williamsville North) moved into the men's 200-meter finals with his 22.06 clocking in the preliminaries, the sixth-fastest of the day. Eight athletes will compete in Saturday's final. Weinstein and Richards just missed qualifying for the 100-meter finals as they both finished in 10.94 to place ninth and 10th.

Competition concludes on Saturday.

Team scores

Women (through eight events): Akron 49, Kent State 46.50, Ball State 31, Miami (OH) 31, Ohio 25, Western Michigan 23.50, Bowling Green 23, Toledo 23, Eastern Michigan 23, Northern Illinois 17, Buffalo 14, Central Michigan 6.

Men (through seven events): Kent State 57, Eastern Michigan 35, Miami (OH) 28, Akron 27, Central Michigan 22, Ohio 15, Buffalo 11.