UB Today

Sportform

• Roving reporter Jennifer Gillan, BA ’07, offers a quick take on athletics at UB
• No Bull: Sports Lingo Explained
• Sports Medicine: New postconcussive treatment pioneered at UB

Go to www.buffalobulls.com for updates on all team schedules and news, and for information on purchasing tickets.

Roving reporter Jennifer Gillan, BA ’07, offers a quick take on athletics at UB

Rowing not-so-gently

Head coach Rudy Wieler and the women of the UB rowing team gained recognition during the fall season. Now they look to build on this momentum for the spring season.

During the fall, UB faced nationally ranked Harvard-Radcliffe, Cornell and Syracuse at the Head of the Genesee Invitational Regatta. Despite the national recognition those programs have received, the Bulls raced their way to a third-place finish, ahead of the ranked squads. UB also had first-place finishes in several other events this past fall.

Making marks in the MAC

Before the men’s and women’s basketball seasons began, two of UB’s best were honored by the Mid-American Conference.

Senior forward Yassin Idbihi became the first men’s basketball player to be named to the Preseason All-MAC Team for three consecutive years. Idbihi entered his senior season in November after posting impressive figures during his junior campaign. The 6'10" native of Morocco averaged 14 points and 6.9 rebounds a game, both career highs. He was also named to the All-MAC Honorable Mention squad at the end of the 2005–2006 season.

As for the women, junior forward Heather Turner has been a consistent force in the paint for the Bulls and her hardwood talent earned her preseason recognition as well. Turner was named to the Preseason All-MAC Team, making her the first female UB Bull to make the team in three consecutive seasons.

This honor isn’t the first conference award for Turner, as she was the MAC Freshman of the Year following her first season with the Bulls. She went on to earn multiple MAC East Player of the Week awards and was named to the All-MAC Third Team following her sophomore campaign.

UB to host MAC Championships

The Mid-American Conference is home to universities from various states, including Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. In 2007, student-athletes hoping to be crowned the best in the conference will travel to UB’s Alumni Arena for the MAC Championships in wrestling and in men’s swimming and diving.

The championships for men’s swimming and diving will take place Thursday, February 22, through Saturday, February 24, in the UB Natatorium.

A week later, the mats will be brought out to the floor of Alumni Arena, as the MAC grapplers wrestle their way to titles on Saturday, March 3, and Sunday, March 4.

Career milestones for soccer coaches

Coach John Astudillo calls the shots for the men’s soccer team, while Coach Jean-A. Tassy heads the women’s soccer program. Other than being head coaches of their respective Blue and White squads, the two coaches now have another similarity—both achieved milestone wins during the 2006 season.

Astudillo began his 18th season as head coach for men’s soccer with 144 wins. When the Bulls headed to Siena on September 24, they shut out the Saints, won their sixth game and gave Astudillo his 150th career win. Astudillo is the first coach in UB soccer history to hit that milestone.

Tassy has also been accumulating wins during his time at UB, having entered his 12th year coaching the Bulls only two wins shy of the 100-win mark. But just three games into the 2006 season, the Bulls captured a 2-0 win over Vermont—and Tassy won his 100th game as head coach.

Baylor and Buffalo agree to football home-and-home

For the first time in UB Stadium history, a Big 12 school will challenge the Bulls on their home turf. On September 22, 2007, the Baylor Bears will take on UB as part of a home-and-home agreement.

“This is an exciting agreement for us,” says Warde Manuel, UB’s director of athletics. “It is significant for us to be hosting a Big 12 conference program, one with an outstanding athletic and academic history. In addition, it gives us an opportunity to continue to expand our recruiting boundaries by playing a team from a football-rich state like Texas.”

As part of the agreement, the Bulls will head to Texas in 2010 to play at Baylor.

A communication and English major, Jennifer Gillan is interning with the UB athletics communication department after spending her previous year as a sports reporter for the Spectrum. A volunteer Little League assistant coach in Rochester, New York, she hopes for a career in athletics communication for a collegiate sports program following graduation.