Higgins Wins MAC Scholar Athlete Award

Rayshon Higgins

BUFFALO, NY – University at Buffalo senior track and field athlete Rayshon Higgins (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon-St. Jude) has been selected as the Mid-American Conference’s Co-Male Scholar Athlete of the Week. Higgins and Toledo baseball player Jake Swint earned the honors the league announced from its headquarters in Cleveland.

Higgins, a social sciences major with a 3.194 grade point average, won his second-straight outdoor triple jump title and third MAC victory in the event with his winning leap of 50-10.25 (15.50m) at the league championships in Oxford, OH on May 12. Higgins scored the winning jump on his first and only attempt of the day to claim the crown and was the only entrant to soar past the 50-foot distance. 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, also 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. He will represent UB at the NCAA East Regional Championships in Gainesville, FL next weekend.

Higgins is the fifth UB athlete to win the academic honor this season and the second track and field athlete to take the recognition in the spring semester. Women’s thrower Sarah Vance (Lockport, NY/Lockport) earned the honor in April. Football player Jesse Imes (Cincinnati, OH/Kings Mills), men's soccer goalkeeper Dan Bell (Brampton, Ontario/Notre Dame) and women's cross country standout Mary Veith (Derby, NY/Lake Shore) earned the weekly recognitions during the fall. This was the final week of selections for the 2006-07 academic year.

The MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honor is presented to a MAC male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during that week's competition. The winners are selected by a group of the conference's faculty athletic representatives.