TRACK & FIELD

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UB Track and Field Announces Newcomers

Vicki Mitchell

BUFFALO, NY - With the 2007-08 track and field season approaching, UB Men’s & Women’s Cross Country/Women’s Track and Field coach Vicki Mitchell and Men’s Track & Field coach Perry Jenkins have announced their recruiting class for the upcoming year. Mitchell will welcome eight newcomers on the women’s side, while six men will join Jenkins’ squad.

Mitchell and her staff covered all areas in her recruiting class as she brought in sprinters, distance runners, hurdlers and field athletes that will help the Bulls in both the indoor and outdoor season. Some of these freshmen will also be competing on the cross country team in the fall.

Heather Boyle (Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville) joins the team as she ran the 55-meter and 100-meter high hurdles in high school. She ran personal bests of 8.82 seconds and 15.65 seconds, respectively. Also on the hurdles will be Lataya Dixon (Edison, NJ/J.P. Stevens). Dixon was the New Jersey State Champion in the high jump and has a personal best of 5-8. Dixon also runs the 55-meter high hurdles, the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles and the triple jump. She has excelled in each of those categories as her personal bests are 8.18 seconds in the high hurdles and 37-10 in the triple jump. She also ran 14.46 seconds and 63.2 seconds in the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles, respectively.

Natalie Fildes (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca East) comes to the Bulls as a sprinter as she raced primarily in the 100-meters and 200-meters with top times of 12.52 seconds and 25.86 seconds, respectively. Ajla Glavasevic (Erie, PA/McDowell) comes to Buffalo with experience as a triple jumper, long jumper, shot putter and she ran the 100-meter high hurdles. Glavasevic is one of the top overall athletes in Pennsylvania and she has placed in the state meet in the triple jump, shot put and high hurdles, and has competed at the high school national championships. She has personal bests of 39-0 in the triple jump, 18-7 in the long jump, 41-4 in the shot put and has ran a 15.2 in the high hurdles.

Ellen Muster (Marion, NY/Marion) joins the team with the ability to run the 400 meters through 3,000-meter steeplechase on the track, as well as cross country. Muster has run the 400-meter race in 59.46, while she has run the 1,000-meter race in 3:02.26 and the 1,500-meter race in 4:48.75. Nicole Soblosky (Albany, NY/South Colonie Central/Iona) is the lone transfer student in the group as she joins the Bulls as one of the top cross country and steeplechase runners. Soblosky has top times of 2:18.66 in the 800-meter race, 3:01.58 in the 1,000-meter race and 4:53.10 in the 1,500-meter race.

Gillian Taylor (Bergen, NY/Byron-Bergen) joins the 2007 freshman class and runs the 800-meters and 1,500-meters with personal bests of 2:18 and 4:50, respectively, and also will complete for the Bulls cross country team. Finally, the Bulls will add Ontario’s top javelin thrower in Katie Weston (North Bay, Ontario/Widdifield). Weston has a top javelin throw of 41.70 meters and will continue to learn under fellow Canadian Vanessa Roelofson (Alma, Ontario/Norwell District), who currently is the UB record holder in the javelin.

“We are very excited about all of our additions,” said Mitchell. “I think we covered a lot of different areas and each of these young women will develop into great athletes for us.”

Perry Jenkins

On the men’s side, Jenkins brings in six student-athletes for the upcoming season as he concentrated on the track portion of the sport bringing in five runners and one field athlete for the upcoming season.

Austin Archibold (Ridge, NY/Longwood) joins the team as he has run the 110-meter high hurdles and the 400-meter intermediate hurdles. Archibold has top times on 14.57 seconds and 54.75 seconds in the 110-meter and 400-meter races, respectively. Peter Bligh (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) joins the team as the only field athlete in the recruiting class with a personal record of 6-9 in the high jump.

Ryan Bloom (Rochester, NY/Spencerport) will join the cross country squad, having competed at the New York State Cross Country Championships. Bloom also will contribute in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, coming in with a personal best time of 9:38.55, and a fifth-place finish at the New York State Championships. Zach Dow (Corry, PA/Corry Area) also joins the team with a lot of experience in the 110-meter high hurdles and the 300-meter intermediate hurdles. Dow has top times of 14.95 seconds in the high hurdles and a time of 39.75 seconds in the intermediate hurdles.

Brandon Giles (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) will join the sprinters when he arrives on campus for the 100-meter and 200-meter races. Giles has clocked personal bests of 10.85 seconds in the 100 meters and 21.88 seconds in the 200 meters. Jamal Norward (Orchard Park, NY/Hamburg) wraps up the six-member recruiting class as he runs the 110-meter high hurdles and the 400 meters. Norward has personal bests of 14.36 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles and 50.50 seconds in the 400 meters.

“These young men will continue to build our program and lead us one step closer to where we want to be in the MAC,” said Jenkins. “All of these men have had experience at the high levels, whether it was the State Championships or the National High School Championships. They will bring a new level of excitement to our program.”