Outdoor Track and Field Weekly Release
3/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Outdoor Season Opens In North Carolina
The University at Buffalo men's and women's track and field teams began the outdoor season on Saturday at the Wake Forest Open with four victories and two school records at the non-scoring meet.
Weight Throwers Off to Strong Start
UB's weight throwers took up where they left off at the end of the indoor season as Rob Golabek and Becky O'Brien won the men's shot put and women's discus, respectively, extending their own school records. Fresh off their All-America performances at the NCAA National Indoor Championships, both throwers added nearly a half-meter to their previous bests. Golabek took the men's shot put with a throw of 18.71m, bettering his old record of 18.28m set at the 2010 MAC Championships. Golabek finished nearly a meter better than the second-place finisher, unattached entrant Derrick Vicars (17.88m). Golabek is ranked first in the nation after the opening weekend of outdoor competition. In the women's discus, O'Brien threw 51.11m to add 44 centimeters to her school record. She easily won the competition by more than two meters. Shante' White and Erin Miller also finished among the top women's discus throwers. White placed fourth at 45.62m while Miller was seventh at 42.51m. White won the women's hammer throw at 58.41m with Miller fifth (50.84m) and O'Brien 14th (43.63m). White's winning hammer toss is the top throw in the East region. Two other UB throwers had second-place finishes. Katie Weston, competing for the first time since 2009, finished second in the women's javelin throw with a toss of 45.62m. Matt Gac took second in the men's discus at 52.06m and third in the hammer at 57.70m. Transfer Evan Palmer, making his UB debut, finished third in the men's discus at 51.20m and sixth in the hammer at 55.87m.
Bloom Wins Steeplechase To Highlight Track Action
On the track for the UB men, Ryan Bloom won the steeplechase at 9:25.37 while John Bauman was ninth in the 1,500-meters in 4:00.75. Women's sprinter Jamiee McClary finished fifth in both of her races on Saturday. McClary turned in a 12.07 clocking in the women's 100-meter dash and a 24.61 in the 200-meter dash. The Bulls were also strong in the hurdles. On the men's side, UB had three finalists on Saturday in the 110-meter race with Andrew Omoregie finishing second in 14.56. Jamal Norward was sixth in 15.13 and Russell Cameron was 12th at 15.63. In the women's 100-meter hurdles, Brooklynn Ventura took eighth place in 14.81. In the 400-meter hurdle races, freshman Donna Jeanty was fifth in the women's competition at 1:01.92 while Will Cole was seventh in the men's event at 53.34. UB also entered a pair of relay teams as the women's 4x100 combination of McClary, Ventura, Natalie Fildes and Crystal Graham finished fourth in 46.74. In the men's 4x100-meter relay, the Bulls finished seventh behind Bell, Alexis, Archie and Omoregie.
A Week To Rest, Then the Toledo Collegiate Challenge
The teams are idle this weekend. They will return to action on April 2 for the Toledo Collegiate Challenge. The meet, which is expected to feature several Mid-American Conference foes, is slated to begin at 10:00 am with the men's hammer throw. Running events begin at 1:15 pm with the 5,000-meters.
