OXFORD, OH - The University at Buffalo's men's and women's track and field teams completed their seasons at the Mid-American Conference Championships, which concluded Saturday May 19 at Miami University in Oxford, OH. UB's men completed the three-day meet with 28 points, placing 10th in a 12-team field while the Bulls' women finished 12th of 12 teams with 14 points. Eastern Michigan took the men's championship with 155 points and Ball State won the women's title with 187.50 points. Weather played an important factor in the meet as lightning and heavy rains delayed many events over the weekend.

Kamau Halim

For the second consecutive season, UB senior Kamau Halim (Medina, NY/Medina) became a Mid-American Conference champion with his victory in the triple jump. Halim, who won the event last season at the league meet at UB Stadium, took first with a leap of 50-2.75 (15.31m), the only athlete to clear 50 feet. Halim also placed second in the long jump competition with a mark of 24-5 (7.44m), finishing behind Miami's Nick Somerville who won the event at 24-9.25 (7.55m). Halim's 18 points in the two events (10 in the triple jump and eight in the long jump) were the third-most points scored by an individual at the men's meet and the most by any athlete in the field events.

Also scoring for the Bulls' men were senior Mike Commisso (Fulton, NY/G. Ray Bodley), who finished third in the 800-meters in 1:52.69, and junior Keith Gentes (Warwick, RI/Bishop Hendricken), who took fifth with a toss of 179-9 (54.78m) in the hammer throw. Commisso was the second-fastest qualifier with his 1:52.92 in the preliminaries.

UB's women were paced by sophomore Biaunca McFarland (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton). McFarland took fourth place in the triple jump at 40-3.25 (12.27m) to earn five points. She also finished ninth in the 200-meters in 25.10 after turning in a 25.06 (sixth-fastest) in the preliminaries. McFarland also teamed with Jenelle Callender (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn Tech), Christina Keck (Erie, PA/McDowell) and Katie Scott (Salamanca, NY/Salamanca) to turn in a fifth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay in 3:50.10.

Sophomore Meagan Rogers (Courtenay, BC/G.P. Vanier) earned four points in the heptathlon competition, taking fifth place with 4,431 points. Freshman Laura Olson (Lyons, NY/Lyons) earned one point for her eighth-place finish in the pole vault with a mark of 11-5.75 (3.50m), a quarter-inch off her school record which she set earlier in the season.