BUFFALO, NY – The Buffalo State men's and women's indoor track team will look to continue to build on a strong foundation set a year ago. The Bengals will open their season this evening as they will travel to Nazareth for their lone meet of the semester.
Joining the Bengals this year includes over 20 new faces on both sides and the return of multiple All-SUNYAC and All-Region athletes from last year's squad.
Among the new faces includes
Ricky Curiel (East Amherst, NY/Clarence) who will look to capitalize on a strong cross country campaign where he earned SUNYAC Rookie of the Year, All-Region, and First Team All-SUNYAC.
Noah Holden (Clarence Center, NY/Clarence) and
Josh Mayer (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) will also look to capitalize on a strong fall cross country season where they both earned All-SUNYAC honors.
On the returning side, the Bengals will see one last indoor season of
Natalia Sawyer (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont) who is already one of the most successful student-athletes in Buffalo State Athletics history. Sawyer earned three individual wins at last year's Indoor SUNYAC Championship (60-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash, 400-meter dash) while being named the Most Valuable Performer of the Meet as she also set the meet record in the 400-meter at 56.58 seconds. Sawyer was also named the SUNYAC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year on the women's side.
Also looking to carry last year's momentum over into a new year is
Jalil Coppedge (Bronx, NY/Ralph R. McKee) who finished second in the 60-meter hurdles while
Sidney Morris (Tonawanda, NY/Kenmore East) won the 800-meter run at 1:57.11 at last year's conference meet. Coppedge joined Sawyer earning All-Region honors following the indoor season.
Buffalo State will return to action in January as they head to Brockport on January 16 and then back to Nazareth on January 24. The squad will then make their annual return to Youngstown State for a two-day meet from January 30-January 31.
Buffalo State will make a return trip to Brockport (Feb. 7) before heading again to Nazareth (Feb. 13-14). Wrapping up the regular season, the Bengals will make one final stop to Nazareth on February 20.
Championship season will feature SUNYAC Championships February 27-February 28 hosted at Brockport. Those who qualify will then head to the AARTFC Regional Meet from March 6-7, hosted at The Armory in New York City. Any Bengals that qualify for NCAA Championships will make one more stop in Birmingham, Alabama in the middle of March.
