University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: May 6, 2003

Baseball

Ohio 6, UB 1
UB 4, Ohio 3
Ohio 9, UB 7
Ohio 6, UB 1

UB hosted Ohio in a four-game series at Amherst Audubon Field last weekend. The Bobcats took three of the four games. Ohio won the opener and the finale, 6-1. However, the Bulls managed to win a thriller, 4-3, in game one of Saturday's doubleheader and nearly came back again to win the nightcap, but fell short, 9-7.

In game one, with the Bulls down 3-0 and having only two hits entering the final inning, they managed to score four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the game. Bryan Sanchez started the rally by getting hit by a pitch. Kevin Nesteruk followed with a single. Brandon DiCesare ripped an RBI single that scored Sanchez. After a sacrifice bunt by Adrian Daniels moved the runners to second and third, Bryan Zelasko came through with a clutch, two-out, two-run single that scored DiCesare and pinch runner John Boom. After a Phil Vanhorne single advanced Zelasko to second, Joe Mihalics followed with a single down the right-field line that scored Zelasko for the game winner. Nick Bellacose pitched well and got the win for UB. The junior hurler went the distance, allowing three runs on nine hits and striking out three.

The Bulls nearly pulled off another comeback win in game two as they rallied from a 9-2 deficit to cut the lead to 9-7, but couldn't get any closer. Jeff Loveys pitched admirably for the Bulls after entering the game in the fourth inning for a struggling Mark McMahon. The freshman hurler allowed only two hits and didn't give up an earned run over six innings.

UB was to close out the home schedule yesterday with a non-conference doubleheader versus Duquense. The Bulls will travel for pair of games at Central Michigan on Saturday and Sunday.

Softball

Western Michigan 1, UB 0
UB 7, Western Michigan 4
Akron 3, UB 2
Akron 4, UB 0
Akron 6, UB 3

UB used a late-inning rally to earn a split in a doubleheader played at the MAC's West Division leader, Western Michigan, on April 29. The Broncos pulled out a 1-0 win in game one, scoring the only run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Bulls, however, overcame a four-run deficit and came charging back with three runs in the sixth inning and four runs in the seventh inning of game two to steal a 7-4 victory. A sacrifice fly by junior Breanne Nasti and a two-run homer by senior Kelly Malone, her third of the season, in the sixth cut the Broncos' lead to 4-3. The Bulls then put four runs across the plate in the seventh. Junior Dominique Jones crossed the plate on an error by WMU's shortstop to tie the game, and a bases-loaded double by Nasti put the Bulls up 7-4.

The win was head coach Marie Curran's 50th career victory. She has the most wins of any coach in Buffalo softball history, surpassing Nan Harvey, who compiled 38 wins from 1983-85.

In the weekend series against Akron–during which the UB's softball facility was renamed Nan Harvey Field, UB dropped all three contests. Akron took both ends of Saturday's doubleheader, winning 3-2 in game one and then shutting out the Bulls in game two, 4-0. Sophomore Ann Magur led the Bulls' offense with six hits on the day, going 3-for-4 in each game. A double by junior Marce Ross and a sacrifice fly by sophomore Julie Hibner accounted for UB's two runs on the afternoon. In Sunday's series and season finale, Nasti belted her first home run of the year and Ross had the Bulls' other two RBIs with a two-out single in the seventh.

Outdoor Track and Field

MEN

UB 100, Akron 88

WOMEN

Akron 88, UB 64

UB's track and field teams tuned up for the MAC Championships with strong showings against league rival Akron last weekend. Although officially called the Akron Quadrangular Meet, only UB and the host Zips were scored in the events, with UB's men defeating the hosts, 100-82. The UB women fell to the Zips by an 88-64 margin. Men's and women's entrants from Kent State and Toledo also competed but did not score.

Men's sprinter Mario Hicks was victorious in a pair of speed events for the Bulls. Hicks took the 100-meter dash in 10.89 and the 110-meter hurdles in 14.70, just missing his school record for the event by four-hundredths of a second. Hicks also led the 4x100 relay team to a first-place finish in 41.55.

Byron McKinney won two throwing events. The senior broke his own school record in the shot put with a toss of 55-11.25 (17.05m), bettering his mark set at the Alabama Relays by an inch and a half. McKinney also took the discus throw at 133-3 (40.63m).

Other men's field event winners included Todd Joki in the long jump (22-1.75, 6.75m) and Gary Asbach in the triple jump (44-7, 13.59m). On the track, Joe Clark won the 200-meters in 21.68. Jerimie Slick took the 1500-meters in 3:57.08 and Onile White won the 3000-meter steeplechase in 9:58.2.

Women's middle distance specialist Christina Keck turned in a strong performance in the 800-meters to lead the Bulls. The senior clocked a first-place time of 2:10.15. Keck's time qualified her for the upcoming NCAA Regional meet and was a personal best and Lee Jackson Track and Field Complex record.

Joining Keck on the winner's podium for the UB women was junior Faith Thompson, who took the hammer throw at 176-0 (53.64m) and the shot put (44-4, 13.51m). Biaunca McFarland won the triple jump at 40-10.50 (12.45m). Laura Olson placed first in the pole vault at 12-5.50 (3.80m). Jessica Moldovan won the 3000-meter steeplechase in 11:24.5.

The squads will be back in action at the MAC Championships, starting May 15 at Central Michigan University.

Crew

UB's crew teams reached the finals in four of their five races, winning one and placing second in three to post a strong finish at the New York State Championships Sunday at Whitney Point in Broome County.

UB's novice four team won its race, while the novice eight and first and second varsity eight crews placed second in the championship races after winning individual heats.

UB's novice four squad of bow seat Michelle Heller, second seat Georgia Maloney, third seat Maggie Cote, stroke seat Emilee Norris and coxswain Kaitlin Buchheit won the championship race in 8:17.1. The boat moved into the finals, thanks to its first-place clocking of 8:15.7 in the qualifying heats.

UB also fielded a second boat in the novice four division. The team of bow seat Kaitlen Bender, second seat Jen Livingston, third seat Rachel Simson, stroke seat Katie Jones and coxswain Bethany Bruce placed third in its heat in 8:42.3, eighth-fastest of the preliminaries. Only six boats moved on to the finals.

The varsity eight boats also made strong showings. The A boat of bow seat Jessica Ecke, second seat Tracy Clarke, third seat Victoria Kolomiets, fourth seat Kathleen Dorn, fifth seat Deanna Knighton, sixth seat Kali Spoto, seventh seat Tara Celestini, stroke seat Kasey Hansen and coxswain Tina LaFountain won its heat in 6:54.7, the fastest among the 15 entrants. The team then moved to the Grand Finals, where it finished second in 7:11.8, just two-tenths of a second behind Fordham (7:11.6). The Bulls improved on the margin by which they finished behind the first-place Rams. Fordham took first place at the Knecht Cup three weeks earlier beating the Bulls by 10 seconds.

The second varsity team, UB's B boat, turned in a 7:07.12 clocking, winning its heat and placing second in the preliminaries behind Ithaca (7:03.7). In the Grand Final, the Bulls, comprised of bow seat Margaret Siller, second seat Caitlin Logue, third seat Amy Aldridge, fourth seat Jessica Barrell, fifth seat Mary Conniff, sixth seat Lauren Dunn, seventh seat Michelle Schwach, stroke seat Sara Sheffer and coxswain Katie Johnson, raced to a 7:16.1 showing, seven seconds behind first-place Ithaca (7:09.0).

UB's novice eight boat also raced to a first-place finish (7:10.17) in the heats and second-fastest overall, 10 seconds behind Ithaca. In the finals, the Bulls closed the gap on the Bombers, but still finished second in 7:12.8 to Ithaca's 7:12.0. The team consisted of Stephanie Spinella, Karen Corey, Bonnie McVicker, Joanne Olsen, Kat Vossler, Natalie Pugliese, Marla Hardin, Chandra Hazey and coxswain Dawn Kavanaugh.

The squads will head to Camden, N.J., to complete the 2003 season in the Mid-Atlantic Championships. The meet, to be held on Sunday, will be at the same venue, the Cooper River, as the Knecht Cup races that the Bulls competed in three weeks ago.

Awards

UB honors award winners at annual banquet

Junior track-and-field athlete Steve Esler and sophomore swimmer Jennefer Brankovsky were named UB's Male and Female Athlete of the Year during the Bulls' annual Athletic Awards Banquet, held on April 29 in Samuel's Grande Manor in Clarence.

Esler had an outstanding indoor track season, setting school records in both the pentathlon (3,933 points at the Cornell Five-Way meet) and the heptathlon (5,251 points at the MAC Championship meet). His point total in the heptathlon earned him the MAC Championship title–the first of his career–and first-team All-MAC honors, and his point total in the pentathlon ranked in the top five in the nation and qualified him for the USATF Indoor National Championships in Boston.

Esler also placed 11th in an 18-person field at the 2003 USA Combined Indoor Events Championships at the University of North Carolina in March, scoring better than defending champion Tom Pappas, ranked number one in the U.S. and number two in the world in the decathlon in 2002 by Track & Field News. Esler also outscored 2000 Olympic decathlete Kip Janvrin, who finished 12th.

Brankovsky was the MAC Swimmer of the Year and an All-MAC First Team honoree following the league meet during which she set three UB school records and won two individual titles. Brankovsky won the 200 individual medley in a UB and MAC record time of 2:01.91, out-touching defending league champion Trisha Kessler of Ohio by a tenth of a second, and she won the 200 breaststroke in a school-record time of 2:17.98.

Brankovsky also broke the school record in the 100 butterfly in 55.38 during the preliminary heats and later finished third in the championship final. All three of her school record times were also NCAA "B" cut times.

Earning the Athletic Director's Award for its performance during the 2002-03 season was the women's basketball team, under the direction of fifth-year head coach Cheryl Dozier. The Bulls doubled their win total over last season, going 18-11 overall and 9-7 in the MAC, compared to 9-19 overall and 4-12 in the MAC in 2001-02.

The Bulls won six straight games down the stretch to finish third in the East Division and tied for sixth overall in the MAC after being picked to finish fifth in the East and 10th overall in the preseason poll.

They advanced to the MAC Tournament quarterfinals for the first time in three years and ranked nationally in two offensive categories in the final NCAA Division I statistics report-19th in assists per game (17.1) and 25th in field goal percentage (45.3).

As part of the special award presentations, Sam Sanders, a former athlete and football coach at UB, was recognized for his lifelong commitment to athletic achievement and coaching excellence. Sanders excelled on the gridiron at UB before being recruited to the Buffalo Bills. A knee injury ended his career with the Bills, but launched a distinguished 30-year collegiate and professional coaching career. During that time, Sanders initiated changes that helped UB soar from NCAA Division II to Division I play. He is a member of UB's Athletic Hall of Fame and continues to be a loyal and devoted supporter of UB athletics.

Other major award winners included:

• Senior Rebecca Ashare of the volleyball team, who received the prestigious Clifford C. Furnas Post-graduate Scholarship recognizing outstanding undergraduate performance in scholarship and athletic prowess. The recipient must have a minimum 3.5 GPA and be committed to graduate study, have strong personal character and outstanding athletic accomplishments. Ashare, a perfect 4.0 student with plans to begin pursuing a master's degree in clinical psychology, also is a winner of the Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Academics. She will be recognized with that award during the general commencement ceremony on Sunday.

• Clement Smith of the men's basketball team and Jenelle Callender of the track and field team, who received the Intercollegiate Athletics Board (IAB) Student-Athlete Leaders award. This award is given by the IAB to honor a senior male and female athlete who have demonstrated leadership beyond their own teams to the Division of Athletics and/or the campus, and whose character, actions, excellence and concern for other student-athletes make them strong ambassadors for the Division of Athletics and the University at Buffalo.

• Freshman Lisa Wheat of the softball team, who received the Unsung Hero Award. This award, presented by the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) recognizes an individual who makes a significant contribution on the court, field or in the pool and is recognized for his or her dedication, unselfishness and contribution to the team. Wheat returned to UB this fall following a serious car accident on Dec. 26, 2001, after which she spent four weeks in the hospital and had five operations. She was cleared to play softball three days before the one-year anniversary of her accident, overcoming her doctors' initial prognosis that she could start to walk in a year and a half. The members of SAAC also announced that the Unsung Hero Award will be renamed the Christine Dickerson Unsung Hero Award in honor of Christine Dickerson, a freshman on UB's crew team this past fall who died tragically in a car accident in Ellicottville on Dec. 11, 2002. Dickerson was a walk-on to the UB crew team who had planned to study to become a biomedical engineer.

• Senior Jessica Kensy of the softball team, who received the Blue & White Club Student-Athlete Excellence in Community Service Award, which honors a senior student-athlete who has demonstrated a commitment to serving the Western New York Community, as well as excelling in the classroom, while devoting himself or herself to the success of his or her team. Kensy served as UB's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's Community Outreach Officer in 2002-03 while also proving to be a vital member of the UB softball team.

• The men's tennis team, captained by Fery Kasiman and Nick Zieziula, which earned the Athletes-for-Athletes (AFA) Attendance Award. Each of UB's varsity sports designates one of its regular-season home contests to be an AFA event, and the men's tennis team earned the AFA Attendance Award by having the best attendance at all of those AFA events throughout the school year.

Award winners also were named according to sport:

Men's Cross Country

Head coach: Vicki Mitchell
Top Newcomer: Brian Smith
Most Improved: Joel Beatty
Coaches Award: Todd Ludden
MVP: Jerimie Slick

Women's Cross Country

Head coach: Vicki Mitchell
Top Newcomer: Kate Kohout
Most Improved: Jenny Koeppel
Coaches Award: Christina Keck
MVP: Melissa Burrows

Football

Head coach: Jim Hofher
Top Newcomer: Aaron Leeper
Most Improved: Dan Lindsay
Coaches Award: Scott McMahan
MVP: Andre Forde
Dominic Grossi Award: Jeff Mills

Women's Soccer

Head coach: Jean-A. Tassy
Top Newcomer: Natalia Crofut
Most Improved: Meaghan Maul
Coaches Award: Brenna McJury
MVP: Elizabeth Pfeffer

Men's Soccer

Head coach: John Astudillo
Top Newcomer: Cheick Diarra
Most Improved: Jason Seymour
Coaches Award: Brian Wozniak
MVP: Mike Peplinski

Women's Volleyball

Head coach: Sally Kus
Top Newcomer: Katie Weekley
Most Improved: Katie Henry
Coaches Award: Molly Schrantz
MVP: Lindsay Matikosh

Women's Basketball

Head coach: Cheryl Dozier
Top Newcomer: Hollie Cook
Most Improved: Allison Bennett
Coaches Award: Talia Merlino
MVP: Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe

Men's Basketball

Head coach: Reggie Witherspoon
Top Newcomer: B.J. Walker
Most Improved: Jason Bird
Coaches Award: Steve McDonnell
MVP: Turner Battle

Women's Indoor Track and field

Head coach: Vicki Mitchell
Top Newcomer: Krystal Seiling
Most Improved: Christina Keck
Coaches Award: Jenelle Callender
MVP: Biaunca McFarland

Men's Indoor Track and Field

Head coach: Perry Jenkins
Top Newcomer: Carlos Williams
Most Improved: Onile White
Coaches Award: Byron McKinney
MVP: Steve Esler

Women's Swimming and Diving

Head coach: Dorsi Raynolds
Top Newcomer: Ashlee Burton
Most Improved: Jennifer Raimondi
Coaches Award: Lisa Boettrich
MVP: Jennefer Brankovsky

Men's Swimming and Diving

Head coach: Budd Termin
Top Newcomer: Patrick Lee
Most Improved: Jon Yarger
Coaches Award: Jim Taravella
MVP: Aviv Oren

Wrestling

Head coach: Jim Beichner
Top Newcomer: Mike Sebaaly
Most Improved: Tom Paladino
Coaches Award: Ryan Bentley
The Bob Rich Outstanding Wrestler Award: Gary Cooper

Baseball

Head coach: Bill Breene
Top Newcomer: James Kingsley
Most Improved: Nick Bellacose
Coaches Award: Kyle Swiatocha
MVP: Joe Mihalics

Crew

Head coach: Meg Barnes
Top Newcomer: Dawn Kavanaugh
Most Improved: Jessica Ecke
Coaches Award: Victoria Kolomiets
MVP: Deanna Knighton

Softball

Head coach: Marie Curran
Top Newcomer: Lauren Picciano
Most Improved: Marce Ross
Coaches Award: Breanne Nasti
MVP: Stacey Evans

Men's Tennis

Head coach: Russ Crispell
Top Newcomer: Rangga Prayudha
Most Improved: Josh Liederman
Coaches Award: Nick Zieziula
MVP: Fery Kasiman

Women's Tennis

Head coach: Kathy Twist
Top Newcomer: Lisa Wittman
Most Improved: Michelle Kollarova
Coaches Award: Karen Maynard
MVP: Kristen Ortman

Men's Outdoor Track and Field

Head coach: Perry Jenkins
Top Newcomer: Todd Joki
Most Improved: Dan Simpson
Award: Gary Asbach
MVP: Keith Gentes

Women's Outdoor Track and Field

Head coach: Vicki Mitchell
Newcomer: Sarah Vance
Improved: Allison Laske
Award: Faith Thompson
MVP: Laura Olson

Cheerleading

Head coach: Amy Zabawa and Justin Bridenbaker
Top Newcomer: Michele Zaninovich
Most Improved: Bryan Aweh
Coaches Award: Michelle Kottas
MVP: Lindsay Sutton