EUGENE, OR – The University at Buffalo, State University of New York men's track & field team sends three to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, June 10-12, at Oregon's Historic Hayward Field. Senior Jonathan Jones and juniors Ryan Billian and Mike Morgan look to add to their All-America accolades. Jones returns to his third straight outdoor meet, while Billian and Morgan advance to their second consecutive.
Jones, a five-time All-American in the shot put, will throw in the second flight of the event that will begin Wednesday at 8:30 pm. Jones has the fourth-best mark in the nation this season with a mark of 20.70 meters, just five centimeters shy of his school record. The USTFCCCA Northeast Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year placed fourth on the national stage in 2013 and 11th in 2014.
Billian, who was a 2014 All-American in the outdoor long jump, set a school record of 10.35 in the 100-meter dash at the 2015 MAC Championships. He raced to a ninth-place finish of 10.41 at the NCAA East Preliminaries to advance to the semifinals in Eugene. Billian will race in the first heat of the sprint at 8:16 pm Wednesday. If he advances to the finals, he will compete for First-Team All-America honors Friday at 8:25 pm. The top two finishers in each of the three semifinal heats advance to the finals, as do the next two top times, regardless of heat.
A two-time All-American in the heptathlon, Morgan was forced to withdraw from the decathlon a season ago due to injury. He enters the event with the 12th-best tally in the country of 7,538 points recorded at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 16. The school record holder in the multi with 7,699 points, Morgan will compete in the 100 dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 Wednesday beginning at 2:30 pm. The event will conclude Thursday with the 110 high hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 beginning at 1 pm.
Live results will be available throughout the meet. The ESPN Networks will carry the championships. Tune into ESPN3 for coverage of field and combined events at 2 pm Wednesday and 1 pm Thursday. ESPNU will carry the men's races Wednesday from 7 to 10:30 pm, while the finals will be hosted on ESPN Friday from 7:30 to 10 pm.
Since 2011, UB has produced six men's outdoor All-Americans.