Allison Laske

RICHMOND, VA – The 2004 outdoor track and field season began for the University at Buffalo with the Ram Invitational at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Sports Backers Stadium on Saturday. Originally scheduled to participate at the Wake Forest Relays, the Bulls were forced to find another meet to compete in after the cancellation of the meet in North Carolina.

UB athletes won nine events at the non-scoring meet with the women taking six and the men three. Leading the women’s efforts was middle distance runner Allison Laske (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy). Laske won the 1500-meter run in 4:35.79, less than a second off the UB school record set last season by Christina Keck. Laske also combined with Stacy Downer (Philadelphia, PA/Dobbins Tech), Celestine Coney (Lyons, NY/Lyons) and Vashone Wallace (Lackawanna, NY/Lackawanna) to win the 4x400 relay in 3:49.61.

Three UB women won field events. Sarah Vance (Lockport, NY/Lockport) took first in the shot put with a toss of 13.33 meters. Bev Weyer (Castala, OH/St. Mary’s Central Catholic) won the discus at 41.44 meters. Jennifer Anderson (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn Tech) was victorious in the triple jump at 11.72 meters. On the track, Jenny Koeppel (Amherst, NY/Amherst) took first in the 3,000-meter run in 10:07.46.

Dan Simpson

UB’s men won three events. Todd Joki (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) placed first in the 110 hurdles in 14.66 seconds. Todd Ludden (Hornell, NY/Hornell) won the 3,000-meter run in 8:49.59. Dan Simpson (Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili) won the pole vault at 4.40 meters.

Rayshon Higgins (Buffalo, NY/Timon/St. Jude) placed second in the triple jump at 15.14 meters. His distance qualified him for regional competition at the end of the season.