UB Track Teams Finish Sixth at MAC Championships

Ezekiel Porter

BOWLING GREEN, OH – The 2008 Mid-American Conference Track and Field Championships came to a conclusion on Saturday afternoon in Bowling Green, OH with the UB men's and women's teams finishing sixth in their fields as Akron's men's and women's squads swept their way to the team titles.

The UB men scored a total of 79 points for the three-day meet with 50 coming on the final day. The UB women, after standing second on Friday, fell to sixth of 12 teams on Saturday, finishing with 50.50 points.

Sophomore men's sprinter Ezekiel Porter (Rochester, NY/East) scored a second-place finish in the men's 400-meters in 47.94, just a tenth of a second behind Eastern Michigan's Nate Blackwell (47.84). Porter also placed fourth in the 200-meter finals in 21.54. Brian Smith (North Tonawanda, NY/Nichols) finished seventh in the 200-meters in 21.65. Josh Thomas (Cedar Hill, TX/Cedar Hill) placed eighth in the 400-meters in 49.27.

Dan Schichtel

Sophomore Dan Schichtel (Eden, NY/Eden) tied the UB school record with his fifth-place finish in the men's 100-meter dash. Schichtel lowered his season-best mark to 10.64 and tied the mark set in 1998 by Mike Quagliata.

The UB men's relayers also posted strong finishes. The 4x100-meter relay team of Schichtel, Porter, Brandon Giles (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) and Smith placed third in 41.25 while the the 4x400-meter squad of Porter, Giles, Ryan Zillmann (Deer Park, NY/Half Hollow Hills West) and Thomas finished fourth in 3:18.97.

In the distance events, UB's John Bauman (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville North) posted a sixth-place finish in the 800-meters in 1:56.88. Dan Giza (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) finished seventh in the 1,500-meters in 4:07.56 and 10th in the 5,000-meters in 15:29.96.

UB's men's hurdlers posted season-best times in their 110-meter finals. Freshman Jamal Norward (Buffalo, NY/Hamburg) finished sixth in 15.00 with freshman teammate Austin Archibald (Ridge, NY/Longwood) right behind in 15.01 for seventh place.

Matt Gac

In the field events, the Bulls posted several season-best marks and scored in all three finals on Saturday. Matt Gac (Newark Valley, NY/Newark Valley) finished third in the men's discus with a throw of 163-5 (49.82m), improving his season-best mark by nine feet. Alex Stamatakis (Hania, Crete, Greece/First Technical & Vocational School of Crete) was sixth in the event at 158-6 (48.32m). Greg Tarshus (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) improved his season-best in the high jump at 6-8.75 (2.05m) for a fifth-place finish while Eugene Kennedy (Troy, NY/Troy) was eighth at 6-6.75 (2.00m). Loic Sebuharara (Vestal, NY/Vestal) was fifth in the triple jump at 47-3 (14.40m).

Patrice Coney

In the women's finals, Patrice Coney (Lyons, NY/Lyons), the MAC's 2008 heptathlon champion, finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles in a season-best 1:02.13. She also took seventh in the women's 100-meter hurdles finals in 14.59.

Caitlin Godin (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) tied for fourth in the women's high jump, setting a season-best mark of 5-7 (1.70m).

Coney, in the heptathlon, and Vanessa Roelofsen (Alma, Ontario/Norwell District SS), in the javelin, earned First-Team All-MAC recognitions based on their victories in the meet. The remainder of the All-MAC selections will be announced later in the week.

Final women's scores: Akron 208.50, Western Michigan 153, Miami (OH) 73.50, Kent State 73, Central Michigan 64, UB 50.50, Ohio 43, Toledo 35.50, Eastern Michigan 35, Ball State 35, Bowling Green 29, Northern Illinois 18.

Final men's scores: Akron 183, Eastern Michigan 182, Kent State 153, Miami (OH) 129.50, Central Michigan 85.50, UB 79.