Track Squads Open MAC Championships

Amanda Bialkowski

AKRON, OH – The University at Buffalo men’s and women’s track and field teams opened competition in the 2009 Mid-American Conference Championships on Thursday. Finals were held in four women’s and two men’s events on the first day. Competition also began in the decathlon and heptathlon.

After the first day of competition, the UB women are tied for fourth with 14 points, tying the Bulls with Bowling Green. The UB men are fifth at six points. Homestanding Akron leads both the men’s (29) and women’s (40) meets.

The UB women picked up a pair of fourth-place finishes for their highest showing on Thursday. Tiffany Maskulinski finished fourth in the women’s pole vault with a height of 12-1.50 (3.70m). In the women’s javelin throw, Amanda Bialkowski set a season-best mark with her fourth-place finish at 137-1 (41.78m). Katie Weston was fifth in the javelin at 135-11 (41.42m).

Casey Garbaty

Javelin throwers Casey Garbaty and Russell Cameron were the lone scorers for the UB men. Garbaty finished fifth at 195-8 (59.65m) while Cameron unleashed a season-best throw of 177-0 (53.96m) to take seventh.

The multi-events also kicked off on Thursday with Caitlin Godin standing in second place after the first four events in the women’s heptathlon. Godin collected 3,167 points to stand 220 points behind Kent State’s Diana Dumitrescu. Godin’s top finish on Thursday was a second-place tie in the high jump at 5-7.25 (1.71m).

In the men’s decathlon, Jordan Addison stands sixth with 3,379 points and Cameron is ninth with 2,762 in a 10-man field.

Competition continues through Saturday.

Men’s scores (after four events): Akron 29, Eastern Michigan 15, Central Michigan 13, Kent State 12, UB 6, Miami (Ohio) 3.

Women’s scores (after two events): Akron 40, Ohio 32, Kent State 17.50, UB 14, Bowling Green 14, Ball State 10.50, Toledo 9, Miami (Ohio) 6, Western Michigan 5, Northern Illinois 3, Eastern Michigan 3, Central Michigan 2.