When junior Dan McKenna broke away from the pack in the 3,000-meter event at the Akron Invite Friday he also broke a school record.
McKenna crossed the line at 8:29.65 to break the record of 8:32.17 set in 2004 by Todd Ludden. At a meet in which there was no team scoring, McKenna's recording-setting run was the highlight of the day for the Bulls, who used the invite as preparation for the Mid-American Conference Championship next weekend.
"The meet that we were at in Akron was a small meet, predominately UB and Akron athletes," head coach Vicki Mitchell said. "It was a tune-up meeting for our conference meet. We didn't compete a lot of the team. We rested them this weekend and they just focused on their training rather than traveling to Akron."
Despite a majority of the athletes opting to rest, Mitchell said those who did compete performed well at the Athletics Indoor Field House.
"A couple other athletes had season's bests," Mitchell said. "Fatimah Hill, a freshman jumper, had a personal best in the long jump. Jake Madonia also had a very good throw in the shot put."
Hill was the only athlete on the women's team to win an event. Hill jumped 18 feet, 5 3/4 inches to take the crown in the women's long jump. Hill won decisively, defeating senior Joanne Douglas of Division II Ashland University by nearly nine inches.
The freshman Madonia's throw of 49 feet, 6 1/2 inches was his best on the season in the men's shot put, but only good enough for fourth place at Akron. Unattached entrant Brian Hallett won the event with a toss of 61 feet, 6 3/4 inches to win the event.
Buffalo freshman Rob McRae finished first in the men's 400-meter run, followed by junior Brian Heim and junior Babaseyi Olaleye for the Bulls. McRae finished the event at 48.71 seconds to win. Heim and Olaleye finished second and third behind McRae finishing at 49.12 seconds and 51.95 seconds, respectively.
Loic Sebuharara also had a top finish for the Bulls. Sebuharara won the men's triple-jump event. The sophomore topped his season best as he hopped, skipped and jumped 43 feet 10 inches on his way to winning the event.
Sebuharara also had a season-best leap in the high jump. With his jump of 6 feet, 2 inches, he took fourth place in the event. Akron senior Tomasz Smialek won the event with his jump of 6 feet, 11 3/4 inches.
Junior Roy Richards took second in the 60-meter run finishing at 7.02 seconds behind Howard Harris of Akron at who finished in 6.91 seconds. Senior Bryan Weinstein also had a second-place finish in the 200-meter run. Weinstein raced to the finish in 22.23 seconds, also behind Harris who finished at 21.74 seconds.
For the women, senior Stacey Downer crossed the finish line at 57.71 seconds in the 400-meter to take second place. The senior finished behind unattached entrant Chanel Garth, who finished in 57.43 seconds.
Junior Caitlin Godin placed second in the women's high jump. Godin's jump of 5 feet, 6 inches was four inches short of first-place junior Natalie Sako from Akron jump of 5 feet, 10 inches.
Junior pole vaulter Jessica Lister added a third second-place finish for the Bulls. Lister's vault of 12 feet, 3 1/2 inches was second only to the 15-feet mark set by unattached entrant Jen Stuczynski.
Mitchell said that the Akron Invite allowed the Bulls to make some minor adjustments before taking on the elite Mid-American Conference opponents.
"Some good individual performances were turned in," Mitchell said. "This was really just a last-chance opportunity to perfect a few things before we go into our competition for the Conference Championships next week."
The Bulls head into the MAC Championship Feb. 24-25 in Bowling Green, Ohio. The women look to improve on their eighth-place finish in last year's event, which included 13 teams. Akron won the MAC on the women's side last year. The men hope to better last season's last-place finish.
