Winning first place, sixth-year Ryan Buzby crossed the finish line in the men’s 5000m with a time of 14:36.50. His teammates, graduate student Alex Hislop and sophomore Luke Stoeffler, finished within milliseconds of each other, at 14:45.43 and 14:45.73, respectively.
The men’s 5000m podium sweep was one of multiple top finishes for the Bulls at this weekend’s Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championships at Bowen Fieldhouse in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The final points tally didn’t live up to the Bulls’ hopes, but that didn’t take away from some impressive individual performances.
Elsewhere for the men’s indoor track team, UB claimed first in the men’s 4000m DMR, narrowly edging out Kent State by two seconds with a time of 9:56.10. The relay featured senior Evan Hilbert (who is also a Spectrum sports editor), juniors Cory Demo and Fernando Sanchez, and sophomore Noah Brightman.
The other first place finisher, graduate student Jonathan Surdej, posted a mark of 56 ‘2 feet in the men’s shot put. Surdej has now finished first for the last six MAC championships across the indoor and outdoor seasons in his event.
UB athletes took home silver and bronze as well. Buzby, who missed out on first by .04 seconds in the men’s 3000m, posted a time of 8:12.61 to claim second. Junior Kevin Gabalski came second in the heptathlon with a mark of 5033. Graduate student Johann Matzal took home the bronze in the men’s 800, outperforming his seed team to turn in a 1:54.43.
In the women’s high jump, junior Zahra Amos continued her incredible season, leaping to a mark of 5’ 10.75 feet just weeks after breaking the school record. Senior Scilla Benussi claimed the other podium finish on the women’s side, finishing second in the pentathlon with a score of 3881.
Henry Daley is an assistant sports editor and can be reached at henry.daley@ubspectrum.com
Henry Daley is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. His work has featured on other platforms such as Medium and Last Word on Sports. Outside of the newspaper, he enjoys running and watching sports (when he’s not writing about them).
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
