Men's Track Athlete of the Week
William Hilbert, Buffalo
Fifth Year Senior, Kenmore, N.Y. / St. Joe's Collegiate Institute
William Hilbert smashed the UB school record in the 10,000-meter run as he finished second overall in at the 55th Annual Colonial Relays at William & Mary. Hilbert’s time of 29:35.71 leads the MAC and ranks 21st in the NCAA East in the event.
Men's Field Athlete of the Week
Brandon Burke, Buffalo
Senior, Churchville, N.Y.
Brandon Burke won the high jump in a season best height of 2.16-meters (7’-01.00”) at the 55th Annual Colonial Relays at William & Mary. Burke’s height is first in the MAC and ninth in the NCAA East.
Women's Track Athlete of the Week
Remy Amarteifio, NIU
Senior, Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Township
Remy Amarteifio ran the fastest time in the MAC in the 100-meter hurdles as NIU competed in the Illinois State Redbird Invitational (April 2). Amarteifio won the hurdles with a time of 13.54 seconds, comfortably ahead of second-place Mya Robinson of Illinois (13.92). Amarteifio also competed in the 200-meter dash, taking seventh. The senior from Evanston, Ill., ran a time of 25.04 seconds in the 200, the 13th-best time in the MAC this season.
Women's Field Athlete of the Week
Abby Helminiak, Akron
Jr. (R)Toledo, Ohio
Akron redshirt junior Abby Helminiak eclipsed a career-best 13-9.25 (4.20m) to triumph in the women's pole vault at the Northeast Ohio Quad on April 2 with the No. 11 mark in the NCAA this season. She cleared her first four bars on her opening attempt before eclipsing 13-5.25 (4.10m) on her final run at the height. She followed by surpassing 13.9.25 (4.20m) on her first attempt.
Other Nominees
Hunter Garretson, Akron
Fr., Newcomerstown, Ohio,
Akron freshman Hunter Garretson recorded the No. 4 mark in Zips' outdoor program history in the men's pole vault at the Northeast Ohio Quad on Friday, April 2, eclipsing 17-6.50 (5.35m) to take top honors. A career-best mark, his effort stands as the No. 19 mark in the NCAA this season.
Jake Wickey, Redshirt Junior
Medina, Ohio/Medina
Jake Wickey set a new personal-best of 65.43m (214’-8”) to win the hammer throw at the Northeast Ohio Quad on Friday. Wickey’s mark was the best among MAC competitors during the week and moves him to ninth on Kent State’s all-time performance list.
Aniya Davis, Western Michigan
Senior, Grand Rapids, Mich./Ottawa Hills
Aniya Davis picked up her third and fourth event wins of the season as the Broncos competed at the Hilltopper Relays.She opened the meet on Friday by taking first overall in the hammer throw after reaching a distance of 174' 1" (53.06m). On Saturday she won the discus with a distance of 158' 6" (48.32m). Davis has won the discus at all three meets the Broncos have competed at this season.
Rachel Donner, Buffalo
Junior, East Aurora, N.Y. / Iroquois
Rachel Donner set two new personal best marks in the shot put and discus at the 55th Annual Colonial Relays are William & Mary over the weekend. She placed second in both events with tosses of 13.39-meters (43’-11.25”) in the shot put and 43.22-meters (141’-09”) in the discus.
Grace Tennant, Kent State
Redshirt Junior, Caistor Centre, Ontario/South Lincoln
Grace Tennant won both the shot put and discus throw at the Northeast Ohio Quad on Friday. Her outdoor shot put personal-best of 15.98m (52’-5.25”) is the best in the MAC this season and puts her at No. 8 on Kent State’s all-time performance list. Tennant’s mark of 50.32m (165’-1”) in the discus ranks second in the conference.
Zaresha Neal, Bowling Green
RJr., Findlay, Ohio / Findlay
Zaresha Neal won Cincinnati's Oliver Nikoloff Invitational in the discus, posting a career-best mark of 173-feet-8 (52.94m) to post the best distance in the MAC this year by more than eight feet. That throw is the second-best in program history and ranks her No. 26 nationally. Neal also placed second in the shot put with a distance of 50-2 (15.29m). Only one other student-athlete in the conference has thrown further than that mark this year.
Jazmyn Smith, NIU
Junior, Pinecrest, Fla. / Gulliver PrepIllinois State
Jazmyn Smith won the long jump competition at the Illinois State Redbird Invitational (April 2). Smith best mark of the meet measured 5.92 meters (19-05.25) and is the top mark in the conference this season. Smith’s leap came on her second jump of the competition and was better than six inches ahead of second place Charde Golliday of Illinois State (5.72m, 18-09.25). Smith also ran a time of 12.09 seconds in the 100-meter dash, ninth-best in the conference this year.
Priscilla Faa, Buffalo
Senior, Jamaica, N.Y. / John Bowne
Priscalla Faa set a new personal best in the 100-meter dash placing fourth overall with a time of 12.14-seconds at the 55th Annual Colonial Relays at William & Mary. She currently ranks 11th in the MAC. She also led the UB 4x400-meter relay to their third place finish in 3:57.54.
Kennedy Batts, Ball State
Soph.Indianapolis
Kennedy Batts was in the top 2 in both hurdles events in a strong field at the Louisville Invitational. She clocked 14.10 in the 100m hurdle, good for 2nd place in the meet and also the 2nd-best outdoor time in the MAC. She won the 400m hurdle race in Louisville with a time of 1:02.84, the 5th-best time in the MAC and the 2nd-best 400m hurdle time of the weekend of anyone in the MAC.
Yana Khabina, Toledo
Senior, Kiev, Ukraine
Senior Yana Khabina made her season debut at the Mountaineer Classic, finishing second in the 800 meters with a time of 2:16.21. It was Khabina's first-ever attempt running the 800m.
Juliane Sormain, Western Michigan
Senior, Cachan, France/Institut Notre Dame
Sormain won the 800-meter run for the second time this season. On Saturday she ran an outdoor personal-best time of 2:12.42 to claim the top spot. Her newly improved time has pushed her up to third on the MAC Performance List.
