TRACK & FIELD

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BUFFALO, NY - The Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships concluded the second day of action and was again hampered by cold and rainy weather.

Christi Smith of Akron took first place in the heptathlon with 5,269 points. It was the third consecutive year that Smith, currently the nation's leader in this event, has won the heptathlon. Sarah Kranzler (Central Square, NY/Paul V. Moore) of UB finished eighth in the event with 4,176 points. In the decathlon, Ryan Blue of Western Michigan won each of the last two events to claim the win with 6,777 points. Freshman Steve Esler (Rochester, NY/Aquanis Institute) of Buffalo placed third in the event with 6,197 points and had the best high jump result in the field.

In the men's long jump, UB's Kamau Halim (Medina, NY/Medina) led late in the finals, but Kevin Grant of Toledo took first place with a leap of 24'11.00". Halim finished second in the event for the Bulls. Jada Phelps of Ball State took the women's long jump with a leap of 32'9.50" meters.

Central Michigan's Matt Loughead won the men's javelin throw with a distance of 223' 08.00", 19 feet further than the second place finisher. His throw also provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championships. Kim Kreiner of Kent State took the women's javelin with a distance of 157' 10.00". Other field event winners were Beth Obruba of Kent State in the women's shot put (45'06.50"), Okechukwu Eziuka of Eastern Michigan in the men's shot put (56'06.00") and Ryan Studer of Kent State won the men's pole vault with a leap of 15'09.00".

In the running events that were finals during day two, UB's Tony David (Lima, NY/Honeye Falls-Lima) finished in fifth place in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:17.28. Central Michigan's Jared Biniecki was the winner in that event with a time of 9:09.56. On the women's side, Domtila Mwei of Eastern Michigan won the 3,000 meter run with a time of 9:43.88.

After seven events, Kent State leads the women's teams with 54 points. Eastern Michigan is second with 41 points followed closely by Akron with 40 points and Ball State with 39. The rest of the women's team standings are Central Michigan (34), Toledo (23), Bowling Green (16), Buffalo (11), Western Michigan (7), Ohio (6) and Miami (2).

After two days of competition for the men, Eastern Michigan holds a slight lead with 52 points while Central Michigan is right behind them with 51. Western Michigan is third with 48 points, Kent State is fourth with 37 and host Buffalo is fifth with 28 points. Other schools in order are Akron (27.5), Ball State (24), Toledo (16), Ohio (10), Bowling Green (8), Miami (6) and Marshall (4.5).