University at Buffalo
MAC Championships
Shante' White, Miles Lewis Claim MAC Indoor Titles As Championship Meet Concludes
2/23/2013 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
YPSILANTI, MI – Women's thrower Shante' White and men's sprinter Miles Lewis won Mid-American Conference individual titles on Saturday as the University at Buffalo men's and women's indoor track and field teams completed the MAC Championships at Eastern Michigan's Bowen Field House.
White obliterated the UB record and her personal best in winning the women's weight throw. White finished with a winning toss of 69-8 (21.23m), adding more than six feet to her previous best and breaking Faith Thompson's UB record by more than four feet. She won the event by more than two feet over second-place thrower Alexis Cooks of Akron (67-6.25, 20.58m). The Bulls also picked up points in the event from Erin Miller and Kristy Woods. Miller finished seventh at 57-2 (17.02m) and Woods was eighth at 56-7.25 (17.25m).
For her effort, White was named the MAC's Most Outstanding Female Field Performer. Jonathan Jones was selected as the MAC's Most Outstanding Male Field Performer following his shot put victory on Friday night, setting UB and MAC Championship records.
Lewis won the men's premier event, the 60-meter dash. Finishing third last season, Lewis improved on his 2012 effort as he claimed his first league title with a 6.82 clocking in the championship final. He outraced second-place sprinter Malachi Freeman of Akron by one-hundredth of a second. Lewis also finished fifth in the men's 200-meters in 21.87 seconds.
The Bulls also had four second-place and two third-place finishes on Saturday.
Chris Reape tied his school record with his second-place finish in the men's high jump. Reape cleared 6-11.50 (2.12m) while teammate Tomarris Bell was fourth in the event with a season-best performance of 6-9.50 (2.07m).
Ryan Billian took second in the men's 60-meter hurdles in a season-best 7.93 seconds while Jacob Wray was fifth in the event, tying his season-best, set in Friday's prelims of 8.13 seconds.
Austin Price and Bell, finished second and third, respectively in the men's triple jump. Price posted a top leap of 49-1.50 (14.97m), scoring the mark on his final attempt of the championship round. Bell turned in a season-best at 48-0.75 (14.65m) to place third.
Meghan Manley placed second in the women's 800-meters in 2:14.43. Brooklynn Ventura took third in the women's 60-meter hurdles, but broke her own school record in the event. She finished in 8.44 seconds, lowering her record from 8.46.
In the distance races, freshman Cameron Bruce finished fourth in the men's 3,000-meters in a season-best 8:27.05 while Kara Patrick also posted a season-best in the women's 3,000-meters of 9:50.26 as she placed sixth overall. Freshman Brian Crimmins was fifth in the men's mile in a season-best 4:14.21.
Craig Howard also scored a season-best performance as he totaled 5,010 points in the men's heptathlon, placing sixth.
In the final event, the 4x400-meter relays, the UB men finished fourth in a season-best 3:18.23 while the UB women were sixth in 3:51.91.
Women's head coach Vicki Mitchell summed up the weekend. "We had some outstanding individual and team results. Shante' White, of course, was the performance of the meet as she won MAC Field Performance of the Meet award. Just outstanding. She was on fire in finals with three big throws. Brooklynn Ventura blazed out of the blocks, and her usual speed out led her to her new school record and bronze in the 60 hurdles. Meg Manley, running her first indoor MAC 800-meter final, ran well and closed with great speed moving from fifth to second in the last 150 meters. A silver medal as a sophomore is fantastic. And, Kara Patrick coming back from a PR in the 5K last night and third place, ran an incredible 3K today, another PR and sixth is something special. Our women's 4x400-meters was one of the gustiest performances I've seen. We had a few injuries, and ran a different line-up, but with the veteran experience of Brooklynn, and Camaria Long running anchor – by far her best ever 400-meters – the women toughed out a great sixth place performance."
The UB men finished fourth among the five MAC men's programs with 73 points, moving up one slot from last year's fifth-place finish. The UB women scored 51 points to finish sixth among the 12 schools. Eastern Michigan's men (157.5) and Kent State's women (175) won the team titles.
Final team scores
Men: Eastern Michigan 157.5, Akron 142, Kent State 113.5, Buffalo 73, Central Michigan 39.
Women: Kent State 175, Eastern Michigan 94, Western Michigan 73, Akron 71, Toledo 65, Buffalo 51, Ohio 38, Miami (OH) 35.5, Central Michigan 25.5, Northern Illinois 16, Bowling Green 12, Ball State 7.
