Bulls End Season With MAC Meet

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.

Halim Takes Second Triple Jump Title

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.

McFarland Leads Women at MACs

Biaunca McFarland

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.

Other Top Performances

Mike Commisso

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.

Additionally for the men, Mark Curry (Brockport, NY/Brockport) placed ninth in the triple jump at 46-0.75 (14.04m). Junior thrower Adam Smith (Varysburg, NY/Attica) took 10th in the shot put at 51-7 (15.72m) and 12th in the discus at 151-6 (46.18m). In the distance races, Jerimie Slick (Greece, NY/Greece-Olympia) finished 10th in the 10,000-meters in 31:43.90 while Rick Stewart (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca West) was 10th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:20.09. Todd Ludden (Hornell, NY/Hornell) was 12th in the 5,000-meter race in 15:11.92, with Stewart (15:17.61) and Slick (15:23.52) placing 15th and 16th.

For the women, 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.

Faith Thompson

Freshman Faith Thompson (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) finished 11th in the hammer throw at 144-7 (44.08m) and placed 12th in the shot put at 39-5.25 (12.02m). Chrissie Matthews (Waterford, NJ/Edgewood) took 12th in the high jump at 5-4.25 (1.63m). Jennifer Roseti (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville East) also cleared 5-4.25 (1.63m), tying for 15th with Ohio's Foli James. The 1500-meter duo of Danielle Morrell (Oswego, NY/G. Ray Bodley) and Jessica Moldovan (Warren, PA/Warren Area) finished 12th (4:46.98) and 14th (4:54.93), respectively. Keck and Allison Laske (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) placed 13th (2:16.64) and 14th (2:17.41) in the 800-meters while Callender finished 13th in the 200-meters in 25.32. Bernadette Boswell (Yonkers, NY/Roosevelt) was 12th in the triple jump at 37-9.50 (11.52m) and 13th in the long jump at 17-10.75 (5.45m).

2001 Schedule

Mar. 10 at Seahawk Invitational

M: UNC Wilmington 198, UB 135, Citadel 66

W: UNC Wilmington 253, UB 197, Citadel 37

Mar. 24-25 at Alabama Relays

M: Tied for 21st of 32 scoring teams with 5 pts.

W: Tied for 15th of 26 scoring teams with 6 pts.

Mar. 31 at Akron Quad Meet

M: Placed 4th of 4 with 121 points

W: Placed 3rd of 4 with 146 points

Apr. 7 at McDonald's Ohio Invitational

M: Placed 3rd of 6 with 119 points

W: Placed 2nd of 5 with 188.50 points

Apr. 11-14 at Sea Ray Relays No team scoring

Apr. 14 UB OPEN I

M: UB 105, Canisius 63

W: UB 114, Canisius 69

Apr. 21 at Syracuse Invitational No team scoring

Apr. 26-28 at Penn Relays No team scoring

May 4-5 UB OPEN II No team scoring

May 17-19 at MAC Championships

M: Placed 10th of 12 with 28 points

W: Placed 12th of 12 with 14 points