NCAA East Regionals
Bulls Send Record Number of Athletes to NCAA East Preliminaries
5/23/2013 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
BUFFALO, NY— A record number of athletes will represent the University at Buffalo at this week's NCAA East Preliminary Track and Field Championships in Greensboro, NC. The Bulls will have 20 competitiors (11 men, 9 women), the most in program history, who will attempt to advance to the NCAA National Championships.
Representing the UB men will be Miles Lewis (100-meters), Ryan Billian (110-meter hurdles), Will Cole (400-meter hurdles), Chris Reape (high jump), Austin Ashby (long jump), Donald McCann (long jump), Austin Price (triple jump), Jonathan Jones (shot put), Evan Palmer (discus, hammer), Jacob Sunday (javelin) and Casey Garbaty (javelin). The UB women's invitees include Meghan Manley (800-meters), Brooklynn Ventura (100-meter hurdles), Donna Jeanty (400-meter hurdles), Emma Siuciak (high jump), Kelly Truppo (pole vault), Rachel Roberts (shot put), Kristy Woods (shot put), Shante' White (hammer) and Erin Miller (hammer).
The Bulls had five league titleists in the Mid-American Conference Championships two weekends ago. Jones won UB's fourth consecutive men's shot put title and his first as a Bull. Billian, in the men's 110-meter hurdles, Price, in the men's triple jump, Manley, in the women's 800-meters, and Siuciak, in the women's heptathlon, also claimed their first league titles at the conference meet in Akron, OH. All five athletes also earned first-team All-MAC honors with Sunday, Jeanty and Ventura picking up second-team recognition.
Jones, who represented UB at the NCAA National Indoor Championships in March and earned second-team All-America honors, heads into the prelims seeded fifth in the shot put. He threw a season-best of 62-7.75 (19.09m) at the MAC Championships. Price is seeded 14th in the men's triple jump. He set the UB school record of 51-0.25 (15.55m) at the Upstate Challenge on April 19.
For the women, Siuciak is seeded 10th in the women's high jump. She set the school record of 6-0 (1.83m) in the high jump at the season-opening Wake Forest Open, winning the competition. White is seeded 15th in the hammer throw. She set her season-best mark of 198-4 (60.46m) at the Upstate Challenge and advanced to the NCAA Indoor National Championships in March where she earned second-team All-America honors in the weight throw.
All events will constist of 48 entrants with the top 12 finishers advancing to the NCAA National Championships in Eugene, OR June 5-8. The top 12 finishers from the West Preliminaries, held in Austin, TX, will also advance to the national meet for a field of 24 in each event.
Competition at North Carolina A&T's Irwin Belk Track begins on Thursday morning at 10:00 am and continues through Saturday.
