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The fact of the matter is, for as close as more and more UB teams get to conference championships and berths in their respective NCAA tournaments, one Bull stands alone as Buffalo's best chance at a national championship, and he's got three more chances in the last three semesters to do it.
Mike Morgan, a former walk-on, leapt from eighth in the MAC as a freshman to seventh in the country in the heptathlon in 2014 to finish his indoor season as a First Team All-American. A foot injury kept him from competing in the outdoor decathlon, but the then-sophomore still had multiple shots.
Over the two-day event at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, AR, Morgan proved that he's one of the best in the country. Through four events on Friday the junior form Ontario, NY sat second thanks to a personal best in the shot put, and a top result in the high jump: in fact the third-highest heptathlon high jump in NCAA Indoor Championships history.
After a slightly slow 60-meter hurdles, Morgan topped 15'-11" in the pole vault to sit in fourth place, three points out of third, 98 of second, and 110 of first, heading into the final event.
Needing to top the leading Luca Wieland of Minnesota by 9.5 seconds to pass him in the 1000 meter run, Morgan went out flying but faded towards the end. Still, he was fast enough to move up to third-place. In the country. IN. THE. COUNTRY.
Congrats to Mike!
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Jon Jones was the fifth-seeded thrower in the shot put coming into today, one of five to enjoy throws over 20 meters this season. We'll update here when his results come down.
UPDATE: Jon finished third, too! There's less of a story to this one: Jones simply went out big, starting with a throw of 19.69 meters. In the fourth round, he was passed by less than an inch and sat in fourth place until unleashing a massive throw of 20.59 meters on his last chance.
That's a new UB record, a new MAC record, and good for third in the country at this year's championships. Jon Jones is a First Team All-American.