Bulls Bring Home Two More Gold Medals

Friday, May 12

Akron, OH

TBA

Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships

Bulls Bring Home Two More Gold Medals

5/13/2023 9:51:00 AM | Track and Field

AKRON, Ohio – The University at Buffalo track and field team competed at day two of the MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday, crowning two more conference champions.

The day started with the women's hammer throw and junior Imahni Sinclair placing third in a new personal best mark, earning the bronze medal. Her mark of 181'8" improves her best by nearly three feet, and is the 10^th all-time best mark in UB school history.

In day two of the heptathlon, event number five was the long jump. Scilla Benussi continued her outstanding weekend, opening with a jump of 18'0.5", scoring 700 points. Kelsey Shapiro leaped out to 17'7" for 660 points.

Event six was the Javelin throw – the very event that Benussi won gold the day before. Benussi heaved the javelin out to a new personal best mark of 140'11", totaling 724 points. Her throw was over 40' further than the next best competitor. Her mark is 4^th in UB school history. Shapiro scored 334 points with her 73'7" throw. In the final event of the two-day competition, the 800-meters, Benussi ran 2:26.15 for 742 points, and Shapiro ran 2:26.51 for 737 points.

Benussi's total score of 5266 points earned her the bronze medal and is a new personal best mark, moving her to the 2^nd all-time for UB behind Emma Siuciak's 5388 points. Shapiro placed 10^th with 4465 points.

The second day of the decathlon was equally successful for the UB men as Kevin Gabalski brought home the silver medal with a new personal best of 6604 points, and Mike Wolford earned the bronze medal with 6401 points.

Gabalski started with the 110-meter hurdles in 15.01 (848 points), and Wolford scored 570 points with his 17.53 mark. Wolford came back to win the decathlon discus competition in 138'7", scoring 710 points, while Gabalski threw a personal best of 118'9", earning 588 points.

In event eight, the pole vault, Gabalski tied for 1^st with a height of 13'6.25" (651 points). Wolford earned 595 points for his 12'10.25" clearance. In the javelin throw, Wolford again dominated a throwing event, winning with a distance of 162'10", good for 583 points. Gabalski threw the javelin out to 135'0" for 459 points.

In the final event of the grueling two-day competition, the 1500-meters, Gabalski ran a personal best time of 4:47.10 for 636 points, and Wolford earned 458 points for his time of 5:18.42. Gabalski's total of 6604 points moves him to 7^th All-Time for UB.

On the track, qualifying rounds in several events took place. Christina Wende ran a huge personal best in the 100-meter hurdles of 13.76, a mark that places her 4^th all-time for UB. Senior Lydia Lanski closed out her career running 14.93, placing 20^th. In the men's 110-meter hurdles preliminary round, senior Chineme Ononiwu ran a personal best of 14.13, advancing to finals in a mark that ranks 4^th all-time. Kevin Gabalski, despite having six other events already completed, also advanced to the 110-meter hurdles finals, running 14.98.

In the men's 400-meters preliminary rounds, sophomore Tal Hamel easily advanced to the finals, running 47.85. Freshman Brandon Robinson ran 49.67, placing 10^th in the event. Senior Travasia Singletary ran 12.41 to place 19^th overall.

Chineme Ononiwu came back to run the prelim round of the 100-meters with another personal best mark of 10.59, with teammate Jean Desir running a personal best of 10.61. Both advanced to the finals. Their times are 7^th and 9^th all-time bests in UB program history.

In the last preliminary event on the track, Allison Newton and Johanna Kleiner ran their debut MAC Championships meet in the 800-meters. Newton's time of 2:17.86 placed 14^th, with Kleiner placing 17^th in 2:19.09. In the men's 800-meters prelims, freshman Gabe Watson advanced to the finals, running 1:53.19. Junior Hans Matzal placed 11^th in 1:53.76 while teammate Fernando Sanchez placed 12^th in 1:54.01. In the final running event of the day, freshman Vassi Klock placed 8^th overall in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase, earning one point for the Bulls.

The day was highlighted by two more gold medals for the Bulls in the field events. Jonathan Surdej continued his domination of the men's shot put, winning by over 1' with a throw of 57'7.25". This is the 13^thstraight MAC shot put outdoor championship won by UB Throws Coach Jim Garnham, an unprecedented domination in the event. Senior Mark Przybocki closed out his great career as a Bull with his 4^th place podium finish in 54'0.75".

In the women's shot put, Teasha McKoy placed 5^th in 47'3", scoring four points for the Bulls. In the men's pole vault, sophomore transfer Brian Murphy placed 5^th in a personal best mark of 15'2", scoring two points for the team. Freshman Dan Muccini jumped to a personal best mark of 23'2" in the men's long jump, placing 8^th overall and narrowly missing the finals.

Concluding the day for the Bulls was Christina Wende in the women's long jump. Wende backed up her indoor MAC Championship gold medal by winning the 2023 outdoor gold medal with a jump of 20'5.75", breaking her own school record by .5" and bettering Jenelle Rogers of Ball State by 1.25". Kaylah Britt jumped a personal best mark of 18'7.25", placing 12^th overall.

For complete results, click here (PDF).

After the second day of competition, the women's team is in fourth place with 37 points and the men's team is in second place with 44 points.

UP NEXT
The final day of competition begins at 12:30 p.m. with the women's discus throw. The track events begin at 1 p.m. with the 4 x 100-meter relays. Live results are here.