Jenny Koeppel

OXFORD, OH - The University at Buffalo's Jenny Koeppel (Amherst,NY/Amherst) became a Mid-American Conference champion as the league championship meet opened Thursday in Oxford, OH.

Koeppel scored a convincing victory in the women's 10,000-meter run taking the longest distance race in 35:43.27, nearly 20 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Ball State's Jill Scully (36:02.94). The clocking by Koeppel also broke the school record of 36:21.54 set by Stacey Strothmann in 1995, the second-oldest record remaining on the women's outdoor list and was also a personal-best for the UB junior. Koeppel also becomes UB's first MAC track event champion. Previously, UB's MAC champions had all been in field or multi events.

Laura Olson

UB's Laura Olson (Lyons, NY/Lyons), last season's MAC champion in the pole vault finished second at 13-3.50 (4.05m) to place behind Akron's Kira Sims. Sims, who became the first MAC woman to clear 14 feet this past weekend, vaulted 14-1.25 (4.30m) to claim the title, establishing a new MAC record. Olson also cleared the previous MAC record, which was 13-2.25 (4.03m), set in 2002 by Eastern Michigan's Hanna Palaama.

Todd Joki (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) holds the lead after the first day of the men's decathlon. Joki won three of Thursday's five opening events to total 3,842 points. Mike Wagner of Akron is second at 3,731 with Western Michigan's Jacob Friess third at 3,692 and UB's Steve Esler (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute) in fourth at 3,610.

Todd Joki

Joki took the 100- and 400-meter dashes in season-best times, clocking 11.14 seconds for the 100 and 48.72 seconds for the 400. He also won the decathlon's long jump at 23-7.25 (7.19m). Esler placed second in the decathlon's shot put at 42-4.25 (12.91m).

In the women's heptathlon, two UB athletes are within striking distance of the lead after the first day. Patrice Coney (Lyons, NY/Lyons) stands fourth at 3,020 points while Meagan Rogers (Courtenay, BC/George P. Vanier) is fifth at 2,969 points through four of the seven events. Central Michigan's Tamera Thomas leads with 3,128 points. UB's Stephanie Conway (Batavia, NY/Batavia) is 16th in the 17-woman field at 2,385 points.

Two other finals were contested on Thursday with UB entrants in both events. In the men's 10,000-meter race, UB's lone entrant, Andy Wigton (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) finished 14th among 16 runners in 32:42.89. In the women's hammer throw, UB athletes placed 12th and 13th. Sarah Vance (Lockport, NY/Lockport) tossed 155-6 (47.40m) and Beverly Weyer (Castalia, OH/St. Mary's Central Catholic) tossed 155-2 (47.29m) for the Bulls.

Akron leads the women's championship with 36.5 points after the first day while UB stands fourth with 18 points. Central Michigan (24 points) leads the men's meet. The UB men failed to score on the first day. Competition continues through Saturday.

Women's scores: Akron 36.5, Kent State 26, Central Michigan 21, UB 18, Ball State 16, Miami (Ohio) 14, Western Michigan 8, Eastern Michigan 7.5, Bowling Green 6, Marshall 2, Toledo 1.

Men's scores: Central Michigan 24, Eastern Michigan 21, Akron 16, Miami (Ohio) 10, Kent State 3, Ball State 3, Western Michigan 1, UB 0, Ohio 0.