Men’s and Women’s Teams Victorious in UB Spring Opener

Saturday, April 8

Buffalo, NY

TBA

UB Spring Opener

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UBBulls.com

Men’s and Women’s Teams Victorious in UB Spring Opener

4/8/2023 10:43:00 PM | Track and Field

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo track and field team hosted the UB Spring Opener on Saturday afternoon, hosting teams from Canisius College, Niagara University, Daemen University, Buffalo State, and several club teams from around New York and Ontario. Both the men and women took home team titles, with the women scoring 191 points and the men 297 points.

ON THE WOMEN'S SIDE
The women saw several strong performances, starting with the field events.

Teasha McKoy won the women's discus throw with a personal best throw of 50.30-meters/165-0". Her mark ranks second in the MAC, 35^th in the NCAA East Region, and third All-Time for UB in the women's discus. McKoy also won the women's hammer throw in 45.96-meters/150-9".

In the women's long jump, the Bulls dominated, sweeping the top four places, with Kaylah Britt in 18'2.5", Kelsey Shapiro in 18'2.25", Scilla Benussi in 17'11.5", and Emily Tait in 17'5.50".

On the track, the Bulls took several victories, starting with Christina Wende in the 100-meters with a time of 12.47. In the 100-meter hurdles, Scilla Benussi ran a personal best of 14.93, and teammate Lydia Lanski ran a season's best of 14.94.

Personal bests continued for the Bulls in the 400-meters with Safiya Dodoo taking 2^nd in 59.39, the 16^th best time in the MAC. Vassi Klock led from the gun in the 800-meters to win in a season's best 2:16.48, ranking 13^th in the MAC, followed closely by Allison Newton in 2^nd, with a season's best of 2:18.70, 17^th in the MAC, and Alyssa Rotondo in 4^th, with a season's best 2:21.05.

Anna Recktenwalt ran a collegiate best of 10:55.81 over the 3000-meter distance, placing 6th. The team wrapped up the day with the 4 x 400-meter relay with the squad of Klock, Newton, Dodoo, and Johanna Kleiner winning in a time of 4:01.15.

ON THE MEN'S SIDE
The men also had a strong start to the day in the throws, sweeping the shot put with the trio of Jonathan Surdej, Mark Przybocki, and Will Trembly. Surdej's mark of 57'9.5" was a season's best, ranking 1^st in the MAC and 36^th in the NCAA East Region. Przybocki's mark of 53'8.5" was an outdoor personal best mark and ranks 4^th in the MAC.

Danil Chernov won the men's javelin throw in a personal best distance of 200'00", first in the MAC, and improved his #4 UB All-Time mark. Alex McNulty placed 2^nd in a season's best mark of 182'10".

Freshman Will Trembly won the men's discus with a distance of 142'4". The men claimed first and second place in the high jump with Calvin Finger clearing 6'4.75" and Michael Wolford jumping a season's best of 6'00.75". Both Justin Kleppel and Dan Muccini had strong performances in the long jump, with season's best marks of 22'2.75" and 22'1.00" respectively. Freshman Brian Murphy placed second in the Pole Vault in 14' 3.25".

On the track, the Bulls won nearly every event. The 4 x 100m squad of Desir, Kleppel, Ononiwu and Ewers took home first place, which set the stage for a series of victories for the Bulls.

Kevin Gabalski ran a personal best of 14.95 in the 110-meter hurdles, and Chinemem Ononiwu ran a best of 11.10 to win the 100-meters, followed by Jaron Meyer and Justin Kleppel, who placed 2^nd and 3^rd. Conner Lehr won his first competition of the year in the 400-meters, running 51.00, with Aaron Essien taking 2^nd place in 51.42. Junior Evan Hilbert ran a personal best of 1:52.74 to win the 800-meters. His mark ranks #8 in the MAC.

The winning ways continued for the Bulls in the 200-meters, with Tal Hamel taking 1^stin a season's best 21.88, followed by Jean Desir in 22.32 for 2^nd place. Cory Demo ran a personal best of 8:21.72 to win the 3000-meters, with Will Marchant in 2^nd, also in a personal best of 8:26.57. The Bulls finished the day winning the 4 x 400-meter relay with the team of Essien, Core, Smith, and Sanchez in 3:21.51.

"We took full advantage of sunny skies, light winds, and competing at home today," stated Head Coach Vicki Mitchell. "Several individuals took big steps forward in their performances as we continue to look at the MAC Championships 5-weeks from now."

For complete results, click here (PDF).

UP NEXT
The Bulls will travel to Bucknell University for the Bison Classic on Friday, April 14 and Saturday, April 15. The combined events will begin on Friday and the open events will begin on Saturday.