Abbreviated roster prospers

The Buffalo State men's and women's track and field teams posted strong results in Saturday's meet at Mt. Union in Alliance, Ohio, despite competing with an abbreviated roster. 

This was the first meet since the men's team broke into the top 25 rankings of the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) at 24th earlier this week.  The women's team also gained national recognition this week, as they climbed up two spots to 20th in the USTFCCCA rankings.

The abbreviated roster gave head coach Eugene Lewis a chance to take a look at the younger athletes on the team, who are not always fixtures in events.

"The abbreviated roster consisted of a lot of freshmen, a lot of newcomers, kids that we're trying to evaluate," Lewis said. "You know their skill set, and also kind of evaluate training programs in terms of where they're at conditioning-wise."

Lewis also saw this as an opportunity for his younger athletes to set a measuring stick with their competition.

"You get a chance to see how you kind of match up with some of the kids who are competing at your level," he said.

"Overall, I think we had a decent performance," Lewis said. "But at the same time, just a little disappointed in how we finished the meet in terms of concentration level and things of that sort. So, overall from the coaching perspective, I think it was a good outing. But we definitely have several things we need to work on."

Sophomore jumper Alexis Whelan had a particularly strong day for the Bengals, finishing first in the long jump (5.00m), and adding a third-place finish in the triple jump (10.41m).  Junior sprinter and jumper Samara Sutton also did well in the triple jump with a fourth-place finish (10.13m).

Whelan said she "felt good" with the results she produced, but also said she appreciated the support from her teammates during her events.

"It was really nice because my whole entire team was there standing and watching and cheering," said Whelan, who set personal bests in both events she placed in. "So it was kind of nice having support and knowing everyone was there to help me."

Whelan is not completely satisfied with the results, though.

"I feel like I can do a lot better, I mean I do have a lot of training to do, a lot more I need to work on," she said.

Freshman distance runner Sabrina Brooks had a solid showing as well, by placing second in the 800-meter run (2:23.86).

On the men's side, rookies and upperclassmen alike had good showings, led by senior middle distance runner, Tim Fargino. 

Fargino fared well in the 800-meter run, finishing third (1:59.76), and did even better in the distance medley, as he helped lead the Bengals to a first-place finish in the event (10:44.35).  Running with Fargino in the victory were freshmen Nuno Tinoco, Cordell Johnson and Alex Ngabo. They built an early lead in the race and continued to build on it throughout, winning the race by over ten seconds.

Ngabo finished right behind Fargino in the 800-meter run, placing fourth (2:01.36) Another strong performance by a freshman was provided by distance runner Arturo Salas. He finished third in the 5,000-meter run (16:07.05).

Fargino saw himself as the veteran leadership in the distance medley because of his experience.

"Being here for four years and everything, you know, I know the ropes," Fargino said. "They're still learning it."

At the same time, Fargino sees a lot of potential in his young teammates.

"They're definitely going to be good," said Fargino, who will be competing in the 800-meter run this weekend in Boston, which will consist of several Division I schools. "It's the first time I've had like a real distance team in a few years. So I'm excited to see what they can do in a couple years."

The decision by Lewis to go with a limited roster gave some of his team an opportunity for an extra week of preparation for this Saturday's meet at Boston University.

"A lot of our upper-classmen and our more elite athletes — our national-caliber athletes ­­— we gave this week off because of the big meet we're going to attend next week in Boston."  Lewis said.

With the results this weekend, Lewis expects both the men and women's teams' to improve on their national ranking.

The team will send a full roster to their meet at Boston University this Saturday, looking to make a statement against some of the nation's best track and field athletes in the country.

Aaron Garland can be reached by email at garland.record@live.com.