Men’s Distance Team Shines at Day One of MAC Championships

Men’s Distance Team Shines at Day One of MAC Championships

2/26/2021 9:28:00 PM | Track and Field

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The University at Buffalo track and field teams wrapped up day one of the 2021 Mid-American Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships. On the men's side, UB is in fourth place as the women's team finds themselves in 12^th.

UB MEN
Michael Wolford started the championships for the Bulls with the heptathlon. He set a personal-best in each of the first four events. Wolford finished the 60-meter dash in 7.55 seconds. In the long jump he beat his personal-record by nearly a foot, 20'-11.75" (6.39-meters). He would go on and win shot put with a toss of 49'-05.50" (15.07-meters) and leap a height of 6'-02.25" (1.89-meters) in the high jump. Wolford is in third place with 2,869 points after day one.

David Wolanin ran a great 200-meter prelim to advance to tomorrow's finals. He finished in 22.11 seconds, good for fifth place.

The 5,000-meter run set a blistering pace from the gun. Scott Loforte found himself in a strong position early on, but the trio from Eastern Michigan would finish 1-2-3. Loforte ran a new personal-record for fourth place. William Hilbert ran a gutsy and solid race to take fifth (14:42.65) as Armani Merlino finished in sixth in 14:52.09.

Caleb Nickens had a solid outing against one of the toughest weight throw conferences in the NCAA. He placed sixth with a personal-record toss of 19.24-meters.

The men's distance medley relay team had an exciting race. Christopher Nowak led off with Elijah Kerner to follow. Patrick Hazlitt bounced back from a disappointing 800-meter prelim run to hold the Bulls in third handing off to Thomas Flannery who ran an outstanding final 1,600-meters in just over four minutes, pulling the team into a silver medal finish.

UB WOMEN
In the sprints, Priscilla Faa had another outstanding meet, running a personal-record 7.67 in the 60-meter dash placing 11^th overall. Her time now jumps to sixth in the UB record books. She followed up with her second best 200-meter run time of 25.20 seconds, narrowly missing the finals with a ninth-place finish. Christina Wende set a season's best in the 60-meter hurdles just missing the finals with her 10^th place finish (9.00). Katriel Perrier and Samantha Shea also ran very strong races, improving their rankings that they came in seeded at, with 11^th and 13^th place finishes respectively.

Kelsey Shapiro started off the day with a personal-record in the 60-meter hurdles and continued to her best competition of her life in the Pentathlon. She set personal-records in the high jump (1.62-meters) and in the shot put (10.33-meters). She finished with a point total of 3,446 for fourth overall. She improved her championships performance from last year where she finished 17^th with 3,164 points.

In the weight throw, Asia Hoyte had her best series of throws this year. She was edged out of making the finals finishing in 10^th place. Wende continued her outstanding day with a new personal-record in the long jump of 5.65-meter, placing eighth. Earnie Burapan placed ninth just missing the scoring podium with her pole vault performance.

"Overall, this was a very strong day for the men and women," stated Head Coach Vicki Mitchell. "Our team has shown up to compete at their best, and that will continue to tomorrow. With more events with several Bulls ranked very high, tomorrow will be an exciting conclusion to the MAC Championships."

For complete day one results, click here.

DAY TWO COVERAGE
Day two of the championships will begin at 10:30 a.m. beginning with the men's heptathlon.

DAY ONE STANDINGS
MEN
1. Eastern Michigan – 58
2. Akron – 47
3. Kent State – 31
4. BUFFALO – 16

WOMEN
1. Akron – 44
2. Central Michigan – 40
3. Eastern Michigan – 25
4. Northern Illinois – 24
5. Kent State – 23
Miami – 23
7. Bowling Green – 13
8. Ohio – 12
9. Toledo – 10
10. Western Michigan – 7
Ball State – 7
12. BUFFALO – 6