BUFFALO, NY - The first day of the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships were completed at UB Stadium on the north campus of the University at Buffalo on Thursday. Despite a two-hour rain delay early in the afternoon, all scheduled events were completed in day one.

UB's Sarah Fletcher (Crystal Beach, Ontario/Crystal Beach-Ridgeway) became the Bulls first outdoor champion by taking first place in the hammer throw with a toss of 183' 6". Fletcher became UB's first MAC track and field champion back in February when she won the 25-pound weight throw at the MAC Indoor Championships. Fletcher also won the hammer throw at the prestigious Penn Relays last month.

After the first day of the heptathlon, two-time defending champion Christi Smith of Akron is the leader with 3,231 points, with four of the seven events completed. Smith currently holds the MAC record with 5,932 points. Sarah Kranzler (Central Square, NY/Paul V. Moore) of Buffalo is in eighth place after day one with 2,717 points.

Ball State's Zach Riley was crowned the new men's hammer throw champion with a toss of

192' 8".

In the decathlon, UB's Steve Esler (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute) won the high jump with a leap of 6' 6" to move into fourth place overall with 3,340 points. Nate Parker of Central Michigan is the overall leader halfway through the ten events with 3,621 points.

In the 10,000-meter run, Carrie Gould of Eastern Michigan took first place for the second straight season, finishing with a time of 35:26.26. On the men's side, Central Michigan's Ryan Watson won with a time of 30:32.33.

After two events Central Michigan leads the women's team scoring with 12 points, while Toledo and Ball State have 11 apiece and Eastern Michigan and Buffalo have 10 each. For the men, Central Michigan leads with 16 points. Eastern Michigan has 15 and Western Michigan has 14.

Action is slated to resume at 8:30 am tomorrow.