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UB Track and Field Weekly Release

Bulls Complete Successful MAC Championships

The University at Buffalo track and field field teams had success at the Mid-American Conference Championships at Miami University’s George L. Rider Track in Oxford, OH as both squads finished fifth in their respective meets with a total of five MAC titles claimed by the teams. The UB men picked up three individual titles while the women earned two in the three-day meet.

Rucker Wins Two Hurdles Titles, Sets Records in Both

Reggie Rucker

Reggie Rucker (Rochester, NY/Edison Tech) broke both UB hurdles records on Saturday and set a Rider Track record in one of the events on his way to winning the 110-meter and 400-meter events, earning First-Team All-Mid-American Conference honors. In the 110-meter hurdles, Rucker won in 14.05 seconds, breaking his UB record by two-tenths of a second and lowering his NCAA East Regional qualifying mark. He completed the sweep with a victory in the 400-meter hurdles setting a new UB record and Miami facility mark of 50.75, lowering his UB record by more than six-tenths of a second. Rucker’s 400-meter hurdles victory is the third by a Bull in the last four MAC Championships. Brian Heim (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville East) won the MAC 400-meter hurdles crown in 2004 and 2006.

Higgins Repeats as MAC Triple Jump Champion

Rayshon Higgins

Rayshon Higgins (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon-St. Jude) took his second-straight outdoor triple jump title and third MAC victory in the event with his winning leap of 50-10.25 (15.50m). Higgins scored the winning jump on his first and only attempt of the day to claim the crown. Higgins was the only entrant to soar past the 50-foot distance as he outleapt second-place finisher Cadeau Kelly (49-8.50, 15.15m) of Akron by 13.75 inches. Higgins, who won the MAC indoor triple jump title in February, improved on his regional qualifying mark by more than a foot and a half and also picked up a place on the All-MAC first team.

Coney Sets Heptathlon Record to Win MAC Title

Patrice Coney

Patrice Coney (Lyons, NY/Lyons) earned her first outdoor MAC title and completed a sweep of the indoor and outdoor multi-event titles with her victory in the women’s heptathlon on Friday. Coney, who led by 119 points after Thursday’s first four events, went on to extend her margin on Friday and become the first UB woman to score more than 5,000 points in the competition, setting the school record in the process. Coney scored a total of 5,116 points in the seven-event competition to win the title by nearly 300 points over Western Michigan’s Danielle Brown. On Friday, Coney won the long jump event at 18-5 (5.61m), bettering her season-best mark by nearly a foot and finished second in the final event of the competition, the 800-meters in 2:19:47. Her point total exceeded Meagan Rogers’ total of 4,921 in the 2003 championships and was enough to give Coney a provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June and a spot on the women's All-MAC first team. Coney won the MAC title in the pentathlon in February’s indoor championships.

Roelofsen Wins Javelin Crown After Pair of Seconds

Vanessa Roelofsen

Vanessa Roelofsen (Alma, Ontario/Norwell District SS), after two second-place finishes in 2005 and 2006, earned her first MAC title with her victory in the women’s javelin. Roelofsen won the competition with a throw of 147-9 (45.03m), scoring the winning mark on her second attempt of the final round. She posted the top throw of 144-6 (44.04m) in the preliminary round. Roelofsen had finished second to Akron’s Ashley Kaufman in 2006 and Kent State’s Julie Ward in 2005. She also earned a spot on the All-MAC team for the third year in a row, named to the first team following the conclusion of the meet. Roelofsen was a second-team selection in 2005 and 2006.