Indoor Track and Field Weekly Release
1/30/2012 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Bulls Roll at SPIRE Meet
The University at Buffalo men's and women's track and field teams won seven events and scored 10 second-place finishes at the SPIRE Midwest Open which concluded Saturday. There was no team scoring at the meet.
O'Brien Qualifies for Nationals on Record Breaking Day
As usual, UB's throwers scored high as the Bulls won all three throwing events in which they were entered. Becky O'Brien broke her own UB record to win the women's shot put. O'Brien threw 57-5.75 (17.52m) to eclipse the record she set last season by more than 16 inches, breaking the facility and Mid-American Conference marks as well and automatically qualifying her for the NCAA National Championships in Nampa, ID this March. The throw is also the third best in the nation this year. Kristy Woods was second nearly eight feet behind O'Brien with a throw of 49-8.50 (15.15m) while Rachel Roberts was fourth at 44-10.75 (13.68m). Woods won the women's weight throw, setting a season-best at 56-10.25 (17.33m) while Erin Miller placed second at 56-0 (17.07m), also a season-best mark. For the UB men, Rob Golabek remained undefeated this season in the shot put. Golabek won the competition with a throw of 63-1.50 (19.24m), just missing his UB and MAC records set two weeks ago by three-quarters of an inch. His throw was nearly six feet better than the second-place throw. Corey Knox finished third at 55-0.75 (16.78m).
Henry, Ventura Move Up in MAC Rankings
Scoring women's wins on the track were Asia Henry in the 800-meters and Brooklynn Ventura in the 60-meter hurdles. Henry won the 800-meters in 2:09.69 with Meghan Manley placing third in 2:14.51 and Aimee Hopkins finishing fourth in a season-best 2:16.10. Ventura won the 60-meter hurdles in a season-best 8.64 and set a season-best in the 200-meters in 25.05, placing fifth. Henry's clocking in the 800-meters is the fastest this season and ninth in the country while Ventura's hurdles mark is tied for first in the MAC. Henry also helped the women's 4x400-meter relay team to a win in 3:46.18, cutting three seconds from the squad's previous best and posting the second-fastest time in school history. Henry was joined by Crystal Graham, Donna Jeanty and Jamiee McClary.
Lewis Wins 60, Sets Season Best in 200
For the UB men's sprinters, sophomore Miles Lewis won the men's 60-meters in 6.83 seconds while Andre Britton was second in 6.96. Lewis placed second in the 200-meters with a season-best 21.77 while Britton also posted a season-best of 22.06 to take third.
Sykes-Sabock Meet is This Weekend
The Bulls travel to the Penn State Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup this Saturday, February 4. At last year's meet, UB's women finished seventh of 12 squads and the UB men were ninth in an 11-team field. Besides the Bulls and homestanding Nittany Lions, other teams expected to compete include Cornell, East Tennessee State, Jacksonville, Princeton, Liberty, James Madison and North Carolina-Wilmington.
