The UB men's and women's track and field teams went to Binghamton, N.Y. over the weekend to compete in the SUNY Centers Championships and returned with two first-place trophies.
The women's team scored 247 points, with Binghamton finishing at a distant second, with 165. Albany and Stony Brook rounded out the competition, scoring 149 and 61 respectively in the four-team tournament.
The women's team had seven different athletes place first during the competition to propel them to one of their best finishes of the season. UB was led by Biaunca McFarland, who finished first in two events and also earned the meet's Most Valuable Athlete award. McFarland won the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.46 seconds and the triple jump at 39 feet 8 inches. She also anchored the winning 400-meter relay, along with teammates Meagan Rogers, Mindy Gorniak and Alison Laske, finishing with a time of 3 minutes 53.50 seconds. Laske also took home an individual first place finish in the 800, with a time of 2:15.67.
Sarah Fletcher had a good weekend for the Bulls as well, finishing with three first-places finishes. She won the hammer throw, the discus and the javelin.
Other top finishes for UB were Faith Thompson in the shot put, April Pabilonia in the 100, Jessica Moldovan in the 3000-meter steeplechase, and Chrissie Matthews won the high jump.
The UB men, not to be out-done by their counterparts, also had an impressive tournament. On the men's side, the Bulls placed first in 11 of their 19 events. They were led by Joe Clark, who, like McFarland, earned the Most Valuable Athlete award.
Clark won the 200 (21.85), 400 (47.76), and also took first along with teammates Bryan Weinstein, Pete Otovic, and Emeka Uche in the 400-meter relay. UB also won the 1600 in 3:16.56 with Otovic, Chris Lenz, Bryan Weinstein, and Clark.
Men's thrower Byron McKinney won both the shot put and the hammer throw. Other first-place finishers were by Eric Czubaj in the 1500, Rick Stewart in the steeplechase, Gary Asbach in the long jump, and Dan Simpson in the pole vault.
The Bulls' next meet is this weekend at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa.
