TRACK & FIELD

Men's Roster  |  Women's Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

Allison Laske

RALEIGH, NC - The University at Buffalo sent a full contingent of athletes to the 2004 Adidas Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State University's Derr Track. The event consistently fields the best competition from across the east.

Two UB women's athletes earned NCAA East Regional berths for the postseason with their performances in Raleigh. Middle distance runner Allison Laske (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) broke the school record en route to a third-place finish in the 800-meter run. Laske finished in 2:09.63 to shave nearly a half-second off Udo Okeke's 2000 mark of 2:10.01. The time also earned Laske a spot in this May's East Regionals in Gainesville, FL.

Laura Olson

Laura Olson (Lyons, NY/Lyons) earned a regional spot in her first action of the outdoor season. Olson finished second in the pole vault with a height of 12-9.50 (3.90m) behind only Akron's Kira Sims (13-5.25, 4.10m). Both Olson and Sims participated at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier in the month.

A new school record was also set by UB's 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team. The foursome finished in 3:54.64, breaking last season's 3:56.73.

Other top women's finishes included Sarah Vance (Lockport, NY/Lockport) placing 11th in the shot put at 44-2 (13.46m) and 21st in the hammer throw at 149-6 (45.58m). Beverly Weyer (Castalia, OH/St. Mary's Central Catholic) finished 13th in the discus at 141-5 (43.11m) and 22nd in the hammer at 147-11 (45.08m). UB's 4x200 relay team finished 19th in 1:41.75.

For the UB men, freshman Rayshon Higgins (Buffalo, NY/Timon/St. Jude) took eighth place in the triple jump at 49-0.75 (14.95m). Dan Simpson (Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili) placed 13th in the pole vault at 15-7 (4.75m). Dan McKenna (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) took 19th in the 5,000-meter run in 3:57.28 while Steve Strelick (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) was 17th in the unseeded flight of the 5,000-meters in 4:04.29.

Four UB relay teams also placed within the top 20, led by the 12th-place finish by the 4x800 foursome in 7:27.10. The 4x200 team (1:29.20) and the 1,600-meter sprint medley team (3:32.07) both finished 18th in their respective races. The 4x1,500 relay team was 19th in 16:14.75.