OXFORD, OH - Freshman Brian Heim (Amherst, NY/Williamsville East) gave the University at Buffalo its third Mid-American Conference individual title in three days as the league championship meet concluded Saturday in Oxford, OH.

UB's men tied for sixth among nine teams with Ball State at 66 points while the women finished eighth in a 13-team field with 46 points. Central Michigan's men (112 points) and Kent State's women (156 points) won the league team titles.

Heim earned the 400-meter hurdles title with his 51.95 second clocking to claim the title by a tenth of a second over Ball State's Kurt Kinkead (52.05). The time also broke the UB record for the event of 52.81 set by Brian Williams in the 1999 season and also qualified Heim for the NCAA East Regional Championships in Gainesville, FL later this month. Heim also combined with Derrick Frenney (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy), Tom Abbey (Arcade, NY/Pioneer) and Bryan Weinstein (Getzville, NY/Williamsville North) to turn in a season-best 3:17.51 showing in the 4x400 relay. The UB foursome placed seventh.

Steve Esler (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute), the MAC decathlon champion, scored a third-place finish in the high jump. Esler tied his season-best mark with a height of 6-8.75 (2.05m), a quarter-inch off his UB record in the event.

UB's men also scored a pair of individuals in the triple jump competition. Freshman Rayshon Higgins (Buffalo, NY/Timon/St. Jude) bettered his regional qualifying mark with his third-place finish at 50-0 (15.24m). Sophomore teammate Reggie Rucker (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) finished fifth at 47-1.75 (14.37m).

Other individual finishes for the Bulls' men included a sixth-place showing by freshman Paul Riley (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) in the 800-meters (1:52.75). Todd Joki (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) placed seventh in the 110-meter hurdles (14.85). Weinstein was seventh in the 200-meters (22.10). In the distance events, Dan McKenna (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) placed ninth in the 1500-meters in 3:56.39 while Andy Wigton (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) scored a season-best with his 11th-place finish in the 5,000-meters in 14:43.99.

The men's 4x100 foursome of Weinstein, Gary Asbach (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island), Frenney and Roy Richards (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) scored UB,s best relay finish of the day in 41.76 seconds to place fourth.

A pair of third-place finishes highlighted UB's women's performances on Saturday. Allison Laske (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) broke her own school record in the 1,500-meters in 4:24.67. The time shaved nearly three seconds off her previous record-setting showing at last month's Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic. Laske also turned in a seventh-place finish in the 800-meters in 2:10.62.

Jenny Koeppel (Amherst, NY/Amherst) also scored a third-place finish in the 5,000-meter run. Koeppel, who won the MAC 10,000-meter title on Thursday, finished her 5,000-meter race in 16:59.32.

Three other women placed ninth in their events on Saturday. On the track, Stacy Downer (Philadelphia, PA/Dobbins Tech), who tied a UB record to qualify for the 400-meter final, finished in 57.14 seconds. In the field, Jennifer Anderson (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn Tech) sailed 36-9.50 (11.21m) in the triple jump while Sarah Vance (Lockport, NY/Lockport) turned in a toss of 131-0 (39.94m) in the discus.

Both of UB's women's relay squads placed seventh. The 4x100 relay team of Dana Ventrone (Pittsburgh, PA/Chartiers Valley), Pauletta Dickerson (Wichita, KS/Northeast Magnet/Cloud County CC), Charisse Everett (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) and Downer finished in 47.51 seconds. The 4x400 relay squad of Downer, Celestine Coney (Lyons, NY/Lyons), Vashone Wallace (Lackawanna, NY/Lackawanna) and Dickerson raced to a season-best 3:47.22 showing.

The three MAC individual titlists are the most ever by a UB squad at the league's outdoor championships. UB had previous earned two league champions at each of the last three meets. Koeppel's 10,000-meter win and Heim's 400-meter hurdles victory are the first UB titles on the track. The Bulls had previously only earned league individual champions in the field or multi-event competitions.

Final team scores appear below.

Men's scores: Kent State 156, Eastern Michigan 145, Central Michigan 118, Miami (Ohio) 102, Western Michigan 91, UB 66, Ball State 66, Akron 62, Ohio 11.

Women's scores: Central Michigan 112, Miami (Ohio) 107.5, Akron 99.5, Eastern Michigan 97.5, Kent State 94, Ball State 89.5, Western Michigan 58, UB 46, Bowling Green 40, Toledo 32, Ohio 17.5, Northern Illinois 17.5, Marshall 6.