Eight Bulls Named Academic All-MAC

Four women, Four men named for academic and athletic achievements

BUFFALO, NY – Eight University at Buffalo Track and Field athletes were honored on Thursday afternoon as the Mid-American Conference announced it’s men’s and women’s Outdoor Track and Field Academic All-MAC Team.

Honored for the Bulls on the women’s side are Caitlin Godin, Tiffany Maskulinski, Mary Veith and Tina Villa, while Jacob Hagen, Brandon Hagerty, Jake Madonia and Dan Schichtel were all honored on the men’s side.

Godin, who has a 3.758 GPA in environmental design, was a second-team All-MAC selection this past year with her second-place finish in the heptathlon scoring 5,096 points, just 20 points shy of the school record. She also finished fourth in the pentathlon at the MAC Indoor Championships with 3,652 points, qualifying for ECAC Championships.

Maskulinski, who has a 3.606 GPA in exercise science, is representing the Bulls at the NCAA Championships next week following her second place performance in the pole vault at the NCAA East Regionals, earning All-East Region honors for the second straight year. Maskulinski placed fourth at the MAC Championships in the pole vault at 12-1.50 (3.70m).

Veith, a chemistry major with a 3.719 GPA, reached the finals of the 1,500-meters at the MAC Championships with the third-fastest time (4:32.58) in qualifying and finished sixth in the finals. She set a top 5,000-meter time of 17:47.48 and ran the opening leg of the record-setting Distance Medley Relay (12:11.16) at the Colonial Relays. Veith won the top academic award given to a UB student-athlete this past year as she was give the Clifford C. Furnas Award.

Villa, the 2008 Furnas Award winner who has a 3.526 master’s GPA in management, was a 2009 regional qualifier in the shot put. She finished seventh in the shot put (48-0, 14.63m) and fourth in the discus (153-1, 46.66m) at the 2009 MAC Outdoor Championships. Villa is a former MAC Champion in the indoor shot put.

Hagen, a exercise science major with a 3.438 GPA, finished 12th in the 10,000-meters (33:06.36) and 14th in the 5,000-meters (15:29.69) at the MAC Championships. He set top times of 14:58.68 in the 5,000-meters at the Raleigh Relays and 8:45.24 for the 3,000-meters at the Northeast Ohio Invitational.

Hagerty, who has a 3.469 GPA in biology, reached the finals of the 400-meter hurdles at the MAC Championships, finishing eighth. He set a season-best time of 54.30 in the preliminaries to reach the final, while his best 400-meter time was 50.38 set at the Seahawk Invitational.

Madonia, who has a 3.366 GPA in psychology, earned a second-place finish in the shot put (55-1.50, 16.80m) at the MAC Championships, setting a season-best mark and qualifying for the NCAA East Regional Championships for the second time. He also posted a season-best discus throw of 155-1 (47.28m) at the Penn Relays. Madonia returned to the track after sitting out all of the 2008 indoor and outdoor seasons.

Schichtel, a management major with a 3.273 GPA, is one of UB’s top sprinters. Schichtel broke his own school record with a 10.54 clocking in the 100-meters at the UB Invitational to earn a spot in the NCAA East Regional meet. He reached the finals of the 100-meters at the MAC Championships with the fourth-fastest time of 10.76 and finished seventh in the final and he also anchored UB’s 4x100-meter relay to a school record time of 40.46 for second place at the MAC Championships and a spot in the regional meet.

The eight selections for the Bulls were the fourth most in the conference. Akron, who won both the men’s and women’s MAC Title, had a total of 10 selections.

The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award. The number of honorees on the MAC All-Academic Team are the number that is set for the specific sport or 33% of the number of nominees, whichever is greater.

Caitlin Godin	Tiffany Maskulinski	Mary Veith	Tina Villa
Jacob Hagen	Brendan Hagerty	Jake Madonia	Dan Schichtel