Bulls Compete at BGSU Early Bird Invite

Saturday, January 14

Bowling Green, OH

TBA

BGSU Invite

Bulls Compete at BGSU Early Bird Invite

1/15/2023 12:02:00 PM | Track and Field

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The University at Buffalo track and field team competed at the BGSU Early Bird Invite on Saturday afternoon. The men's team finished first with a score of 121. The women's team finished fifth with 54 points. This was the team's first action since Friday, Dec. 2.

ON THE MEN'S SIDE
The men's squad had a strong start to 2023 winning the BGSU Early Bird Invite with 121 points over MAC competitors Eastern Michigan (109) and Kent State (107). The men's shot put squad started the day off in the field events very strong with Jonathan Surdej placing 2^nd (55'11.25") and Mark Przybocki hitting a new personal best by over 2'6" placing third in 54'8.25". Surdej ranks #2 in the MAC and Przybocki ranks #4. Justin Kleppel leaped to 4^th place in the men's Long Jump in a personal best of 21'9.00".

On the track, Chinemerem Ononiwu continued his strong start in the 60HH racing to 3^rd place in 8.09 – his second-best time ever. Heptathlete Kevin Gabalski placed 5^th in a new personal best of 8.41/60HH. In the Men's 60m, Tal Hamel ran a personal best of 7.04, and came back to an indoor personal best in the 200m of 22.69. The men's distance squad had a strong season opener as well. Freshman Noah Brightman ran an indoor personal best in the 800m of 1:58.22 placing 4^th. Ryan Buzby backed up his All-MAC Team Cross Country honors by starting his season smashing his personal best in the Mile. His winning time of 4:12.53 moves him to #8 All-Time in UB History and ranks #3 in the MAC. Sophomore Cory Demo placed 3^rd in a personal best (4:18.22) and freshman Luke Stoeffler ran a personal best of 4:19.91.

In the 3000m, Evan Hilbert ran an 8-second personal best to win in 8:35.00 and ranks #1 in the MAC. Hilbert led the Bulls' sweep of the event with Alex Hislop and Will Marchant placing 2^nd and 3^rd. The 4 x 400 squad of Fernando Sanchez, Johann Matzal, Kevin Gabalski, and Noah Brightman edged out EMU for first place.

ON THE WOMEN'S SIDE
The women's team placed 5^th with 54 points behind MAC Competitors BGSU (111), EMU (110), CMU (103), and KSU (64). Leading the scoring efforts for the Bulls were 5^th year seniors Christina Wende and Antoinette Miller. Wende ran to a personal best placing 5^th in the 60m in 7.62m, which ranks #4 All-Time in UB program history and #6 in the MAC. Just behind was Antoinette Miller in 6^th place in 7.71.

Miller backed up her sprint performance with an outstanding personal best in the High Jump clearing 5'7.00", placing 3^rd and tying the 7^th best jump All-Time in UB History. Also clearing 5'7.00 in the high jump was sophomore Zahra Amos, who placed 5^th on the tie breaks. Miller and Amos are ranked #3 in the MAC in the high jump. Wende also placed 2^nd in the Triple Jump with a distance of 40'6", ranking #2 in the MAC, and teammate Kaylah Britt opened her season with a 5^th place finish of 38'9.00", ranking #8 in the MAC.

In the women's 60HH, Zaria Fuller placed 5^th in 9.03 and Scilla Benussi ran a personal best of 9.04, placing 6^th. Freshman Vassi Klock ran a collegiate personal best in the Mile of 5:08.87, placing 6^th overall and improving her time from Houghton by nearly 8 seconds. In the throws, grad transfer Teasha McKoy placed 2^nd in the shot put in 47'7.75".

"With the student-athletes back on campus in less than 1 week, this meet was the first indoor track they have been on in 6-weeks. It's a challenge preparing for competition during the winter break and long stretch without being on campus or in a track facility. We had several goals to accomplish in the first meet of 2023: first and foremost was to get out and compete," stated Head Coach Vicki Mitchell. "With BGSU hosting the MAC Championships in February, our team was able to get a preview of the facility and the feel of the track, runways, and throwing circles – critical as each facility is a bit different. While we had several with very strong performances and personal best marks, we are aiming for peak performances late February at the MAC Championships. We need to continue to build depth in all events to have more scoring opportunities."

For complete results, click here.

UP NEXT
The Bulls are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 21 as the team travels to Cornell University for the Upstate Challenge.