Friday, January 28
Lewisburg, PA
FRI. 4:30 p.m. | SAT. 11 a.m.
at
Bucknell Bison Open
Bulls Show Dominance Over the Weekend
1/29/2022 10:24:00 PM | Track and Field
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo track and field teams wrapped a busy weekend on Saturday as the team split to compete at both the Cornell Upstate Invite and the Bucknell Bison Combined Events Invite. Many Bulls earned top-3 finishes over the weekend.
BUCKNELL BISON COMBINED EVENTS
The trio of Scilla Benussi, Kelsey Shapiro, and Luise Hansen had their season debut pentathlon and placed first, second, and fifth out of 13 competitors. Benussi won the event with a 3-point total personal best mark with 3,558 points. She won four of the five individual events, setting a new personal best in the high jump of 5'-05.25"/1.66m. She was close to her personal bests in the 60-meter hurdles, long jump, and shot put and is in a great position just four weeks from the MAC Championships. Shapiro took second overall with 3,385 points, with a new personal best in the high jump of 5'-04.25"/1.62m, and season's best mark in the 60-meter hurdles (9.51-seconds). Freshman Luise Hansen took fifth with 2,923 points, setting a season's best in the 60-meter hurdles (9.45-seconds).
The UB men also had strong season openers in the heptathlon and placed 1-2 overall. Mike Wolford started with a personal best in the 60-meter dash of 7.52-seconds, followed up by a personal best mark in the long jump (21'-02.00/6.45m), and a pole vault personal best of 13'-01.50"/4.00m. His total of 4,658 points is just shy of his personal best (4,696). Kevin Gabalski placed second with 4,371 points in his first ever heptathlon. He set personal best marks in the 60-meter dash (7.36-seconds), long jump (20'-08.00/6.30m), high jump (5'-10.50"/1.79m), and pole vault (9'-10.00"/3.00m).
"This was a very good starting point for the group in preparation for the MAC Championships," stated Head Coach Vicki Mitchell. "With several personal best marks set this weekend, we still have plenty of room for growth and improvement to be at a higher level at the MAC Championships."
CORNELL UPSTATE INVITE
Jonathan Surdej won the men's shot put with a season best mark of 56'-00.50"/17.08m, bettering second place by nearly 1-foot. Surdej ranks #2 in the MAC in the event. Caleb Nickens had an early lead in the weight throw, and in the fifth round, two from throwers from Cornell put out better marks. In the sixth and final round, Nickens threw 18.84-meters to move back into seconds place narrowly missing first by 3-centimeters. On the track, freshman Cory Demo won his first collegiate race, taking the men's 800-meter title in 2:02.36. Senior Nicholas Taboni placed second in the 3,000-meter run with a new personal best of 8:58.02. Red-Shirt freshman Brett Russell ran a personal best in the mile of 4:27.35 placing fourth overall. In the 60-meter dash, two Bulls advanced to the finals, with Justin Kleppel setting a personal best time of 7.13-seconds placing third and Dylan Schihl in his debut for the Bulls placing seventh in 7.35-seconds. Kleppel came back to place fourth in the 200-meter dash in a personal best.
The women also had several strong performances. Antoinette Miller set a personal best in the preliminary around of the 60-meter running 7.79-seconds and placed sixth in finals running 7.87-seconds. Senior Riley Jones turned on an incredible finishing kick over the last 150-meters to win the women's mile in a personal best time of 5:09.30, more than 5 seconds faster than her previous best. Senior Lily Meek had a break-through race, taking a strong lead with 800-meter to go to set a collegiate best time of 10:23.65, winning by over 7 seconds. In the field events, UB women took home three-first place finishes. Senior Nisa Raqib won the women's triple jump in 36'-00.00"/10.97m. Molly McCreedy and Rachel Donner placed first and second in the women's shot put. Rounding up the action was Asia Hoyte taking home first in the weight throw by nearly 5-feet.
"With four weeks until the MAC Championships, each and every day of work is important," stated Head Coach Vicki Mitchell. "We have many individuals positioned very well in the MAC, but our focus is to have both the men's and women's teams ready to be competitive and placing well. The next couple of weeks are critical in making forward progress and staying healthy."
BUCKNELL BISON COMBINED EVENTS RESULTS
CORNELL UPSTATE INVITE RESULTS
UP NEXT
The Bulls will travel to Akron, Ohio for the 18th Annual Akron Invite. The invite is set to begin on Friday, Feb. 4 and run through Saturday.
BUCKNELL BISON COMBINED EVENTS
The trio of Scilla Benussi, Kelsey Shapiro, and Luise Hansen had their season debut pentathlon and placed first, second, and fifth out of 13 competitors. Benussi won the event with a 3-point total personal best mark with 3,558 points. She won four of the five individual events, setting a new personal best in the high jump of 5'-05.25"/1.66m. She was close to her personal bests in the 60-meter hurdles, long jump, and shot put and is in a great position just four weeks from the MAC Championships. Shapiro took second overall with 3,385 points, with a new personal best in the high jump of 5'-04.25"/1.62m, and season's best mark in the 60-meter hurdles (9.51-seconds). Freshman Luise Hansen took fifth with 2,923 points, setting a season's best in the 60-meter hurdles (9.45-seconds).
The UB men also had strong season openers in the heptathlon and placed 1-2 overall. Mike Wolford started with a personal best in the 60-meter dash of 7.52-seconds, followed up by a personal best mark in the long jump (21'-02.00/6.45m), and a pole vault personal best of 13'-01.50"/4.00m. His total of 4,658 points is just shy of his personal best (4,696). Kevin Gabalski placed second with 4,371 points in his first ever heptathlon. He set personal best marks in the 60-meter dash (7.36-seconds), long jump (20'-08.00/6.30m), high jump (5'-10.50"/1.79m), and pole vault (9'-10.00"/3.00m).
"This was a very good starting point for the group in preparation for the MAC Championships," stated Head Coach Vicki Mitchell. "With several personal best marks set this weekend, we still have plenty of room for growth and improvement to be at a higher level at the MAC Championships."
CORNELL UPSTATE INVITE
Jonathan Surdej won the men's shot put with a season best mark of 56'-00.50"/17.08m, bettering second place by nearly 1-foot. Surdej ranks #2 in the MAC in the event. Caleb Nickens had an early lead in the weight throw, and in the fifth round, two from throwers from Cornell put out better marks. In the sixth and final round, Nickens threw 18.84-meters to move back into seconds place narrowly missing first by 3-centimeters. On the track, freshman Cory Demo won his first collegiate race, taking the men's 800-meter title in 2:02.36. Senior Nicholas Taboni placed second in the 3,000-meter run with a new personal best of 8:58.02. Red-Shirt freshman Brett Russell ran a personal best in the mile of 4:27.35 placing fourth overall. In the 60-meter dash, two Bulls advanced to the finals, with Justin Kleppel setting a personal best time of 7.13-seconds placing third and Dylan Schihl in his debut for the Bulls placing seventh in 7.35-seconds. Kleppel came back to place fourth in the 200-meter dash in a personal best.
The women also had several strong performances. Antoinette Miller set a personal best in the preliminary around of the 60-meter running 7.79-seconds and placed sixth in finals running 7.87-seconds. Senior Riley Jones turned on an incredible finishing kick over the last 150-meters to win the women's mile in a personal best time of 5:09.30, more than 5 seconds faster than her previous best. Senior Lily Meek had a break-through race, taking a strong lead with 800-meter to go to set a collegiate best time of 10:23.65, winning by over 7 seconds. In the field events, UB women took home three-first place finishes. Senior Nisa Raqib won the women's triple jump in 36'-00.00"/10.97m. Molly McCreedy and Rachel Donner placed first and second in the women's shot put. Rounding up the action was Asia Hoyte taking home first in the weight throw by nearly 5-feet.
"With four weeks until the MAC Championships, each and every day of work is important," stated Head Coach Vicki Mitchell. "We have many individuals positioned very well in the MAC, but our focus is to have both the men's and women's teams ready to be competitive and placing well. The next couple of weeks are critical in making forward progress and staying healthy."
BUCKNELL BISON COMBINED EVENTS RESULTS
CORNELL UPSTATE INVITE RESULTS
UP NEXT
The Bulls will travel to Akron, Ohio for the 18th Annual Akron Invite. The invite is set to begin on Friday, Feb. 4 and run through Saturday.
Players Mentioned
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
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/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
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