BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo will host the Mid-American Conference Men and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships this upcoming weekend. The Championships will begin on Thursday, May 18, and run through Saturday, May 20, at UB Stadium.

On the men's side, Bobby Cruse of Kent returns after capturing Most Valuable Performer and Most Valuable Performance awards at last season's championships. Cruse was a double winner last year taking first place in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash. He set the MAC record in the 100-meter with a time of :10.18. Eastern Michigan is the defending men's team champion, winning last year with 151 points while Central Michigan was second with 136 points.

For the women, Carrie Gould of Eastern Michigan returns as a three-time champion from last year's MAC Championships. Gould took first place honors in the 3,000-meter run, 5,000-meter run and the 10,000-meter run while earning Most Valuable Performer honors as the athlete who earned the most points for their team. Christi Smith of Akron earned Most Valuable Performance last season after taking first place in the heptathlon with 5,528 points. She currently holds the MAC record for the heptathlon as well. Akron is the defending women's team champion as the Zips finished with 121 points to edge out second place Eastern Michigan (117) and third place Kent (115).

UB has some individuals who rank among the MAC's best and will be competing for championship honors this weekend as well. For the men, Kamau Halim (Medina, NY/Medina) has the MAC's best performance in the triple jump this season. Halim has broken his own school-record in that event three times this season. His longest leap this year is 50'11", which is over a foot longer than the second best distance of all MAC athletes. Tony David (Lima, MY/Honeoye Falls-Lima) has the conference's second best time for the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:10.50.

On the women's side, Sarah Fletcher (Crystal Beach, Ontario/Crystal Beach-Ridgeway) is one of the MAC's top performers in several events. She has the second best distance in the conference in the hammer throw at 181'4" and has the ninth best distance in the discus at 141'9". Fletcher also recently took first place in the hammer throw at the prestigious Penn Relays. UB as two other female athletes who rank second in the MAC in performances this year with Sarah Kranzler (Central Square, NY/Paul V. Moore) in the heptathlon (4,653 points) and Udo Ukeke (Seattle, WA/Lagos) in the 800-meter run (2:10.19).