Four Bulls Named to Academic All-MAC Team
4/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
UFFALO, NY – Four members of the University at Buffalo's indoor track and field teams have been named to the Academic All-Mid-American Conference Team, the league announced from its Cleveland headquaters this morning. A total of 43 student-athletes were named to the teams as voted by the league's faculty athletic representatives.
Senior pole vaulter Tiffany Maskulinski is on the women's Academic All-MAC list while junior distance runner Shaun Brummert, senior weight thrower Jake Madonia and senior sprinter Brian Smith are all members of the men's Academic All-MAC squad.
Maskulinski, an exercise science major with a 3.606 GPA, earned second team All-MAC honors for her performance in the pole vault at the 2010 MAC Indoor Championships, finishing second at 12-11.50 (3.95m). Maskulinski established UB's indoor pole vault record with a leap of 13-9.25 (4.20m) at the Penn State National Meet to earn an NCAA provisional qualification. The vault was the 18th-best in the nation during the season. She was also named to the league's outdoor All-Academic team in 2009.
Brummert, a pharmacy major with a 3.762 GPA, finished fifth in the 800-meters (1:55.19) at the 2010 MAC Indoor Championships and also ran the third leg of both of UB's relay teams at the MAC Championships, helping the Bulls to third-place finishes in both events. He broke the UB record for the 600-meter run (1:19.28) and helped the Bulls to a school record (9:54.65) in the Distance Medley Relay at Penn State's Sykes-Sabock Cup, earning MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week. Brummert also posted UB's fastest 800-meter time of 1:52.35 at the Akron Invitational on February 13 and was named MAC Track Athlete of the Week on January 12 following his 800-meter victory in the season opener at Akron.
Madonia, a psychology major with a 3.366 GPA, garnered All-MAC First Team honors when he won the MAC title in the men's shot put with a season-best throw of 59-2.25 (18.04m) at the 2010 MAC Indoor Championships. Madonia provisionally qualified for the NCAA National Indoor Championships in the shot put, finishing with the 32nd best throw in the nation. He was also named to the Academic All-MAC team for the 2007 and 2009 indoor and outdoor seasons.
Smith, a communication major with a 3.208 GPA, finished sixth in the 200-meters (22.52) and 10th in the 60-meters (7.05) at the 2010 MAC Indoor Championships. He also ran the anchor leg of UB's 4x400-meter relay to a third-place finish (3:19.15) at the meet. Smith posted UB's fastest 200-meter time (21.95) and his fastest 60-meter time (7.02) at the Doug Raymond Invitational on January 16.
The total team members reflect the same number of all-conference selections or one-third of the nominees, whichever is greater, for each specific sport. For the women's team that translated to 28 selections while the men's team had 15 honorees.
To be nominated, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.2 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 ward. Outstanding academic and athletic accomplishments for the current season only are considered.
