Vanessa Roelofsen

RALEIGH, NC – The University at Buffalo men’s and women’s track and field teams competed over the weekend at the annual Raleigh Relays. The meet, held at North Carolina State’s Paul Derr Track, is one of the largest in the country with more than 70 schools sending athletes and gave the Bulls a chance to compete against some of the top schools on the East Coast.

UB freshman Vanessa Roelofsen (Alma, Ontario/Norwell District) was the top placer at the meet for the Bulls. Roelofsen won the women’s javelin with a throw of 149-8 (45.63m). It was the second consecutive meet that she had won the event after setting the school record the previous week at the UNC-Wilmington Seahawk Invitational.

The UB women also posted three fourth-place finishes including a pair by Faith Thompson (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls). Thompson placed fourth in the shot put at 47-8.50 (14.54m) and in the hammer throw at 182-3 (55.56m). Kelli O’Brien (Clifton Springs, NY/Manchester-Shortsville) broke the school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase finishing in 11:05.19, six seconds better than Hollie Rhodes’ 2002 mark.

Kelli O'Brien

Sarah Vance (Lockport, NY/Lockport) took seventh place behind Thompson in the shot put at 46-9 (14.25m). She was also 10th in the women’s discus with a throw of 140-6 (42.82m).

Carrie Hinners (Maple Grove, MN/Maple Grove) tied for seventh in the pole vault (11-1.75, 3.40m).

Four UB tracksters earned ninth-place finishes. Jenny Koeppel (Amherst, NY/Amherst) finished the seeded portion of the 5,000-meter run in 17:02.43. Jen Jezorski (Elmira, NY/Elmira Southside) finished the seeded 1,500-meter run in 4:35.72 while Aleksandra Bykowska (Poznan, Poland/Third High School in Poznan) turned in a 4:47.70 clocking in the unseeded field. Stacy Downer (Philadelphia, PA/Dobbins Tech) ran a 56.96 in the 400-meters.

The UB women’s relay teams also placed four squads in the top-10 of its races, including a school record. The 4x400-meter team finished fifth in 3:48.82 while the 4x100-meter team finished eighth in 48.12. In the two other relays, usually contested at such large-scale events as the Raleigh meet, the 1600-meter sprint medley relay team was sixth in 4:06.02 while the 4x1500-meter relay team was seventh in 19:33.44, breaking the school record by 17 seconds.

Gary Asbach

For the UB men, Gary Asbach (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) was the top individual finisher with a seventh-place showing in the long jump. Asbach cleared a season-best 23-0 (7.01m), two inches better than last week’s showing at Wilmington.

In the triple jump, Rayshon Higgins (Buffalo, NY/Timon/St. Jude) took ninth at 46-4 (14.12m) with Asbach placing 12th at 45-5 (13.84m), improving his season-best by more than a foot.

Todd Joki (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) reached the finals of the 110-meter hurdles after turning in a 14.59 clocking to place 13th in the preliminaries. Joki returned with a 14.41 showing in the finals to place ninth overall.

In the men’s relays, the 4x1500-meter team finished sixth in a school-record 16:01.45. Two others posted 10th-place showings as the 4x800-relay team finished in 7:45.92 and the 1600-meter sprint medley team clocked a 3:34.21.

UB gets its first taste of Mid-American Conference opposition next week at Ohio University’s McDonald’s Invitational.