Vance Earns Second Berth in NCAA Track Championships

Sarah Vance

GAINESVILLE, FL – The University at Buffalo’s Sarah Vance (Lockport, NY/Lockport) became the first UB athlete to qualify for two championship events as she earned her second All-East honor in two days as the NCAA East Regional Track and Field Championships concluded on Saturday. The two-day meet was held at the University of Florida’s James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track.

Vance, who finished fourth in the women’s shot put on Friday, bettered her standing in the hammer throw with a third-place finish, turning in a toss of 194-1 (59.17m) on her final of six attempts. Defending NCAA women’s champion Jenny Dahlgren of Georgia won the competition with a throw of 222-5 (67.80m), nearly 24 feet better than the second-place finisher, Lafayette’s Ashley Harbin (198-6, 60.51m).

Vance just barely made the cut for the final round with her one scoring throw of 179-2 (54.62m). She fouled on her other two attempts of the flight. The throw was good enough to place her eighth among the competition’s 22 entrants with the top nine advancing into the finals. She bettered her standing with her first throw of the final round with a toss of 183-7 (55.97m).

Two UB men competed in their events on Saturday night with neither reaching the final round of competition.

Men’s shot putter Jake Madonia (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) finished 16th in his event with a toss of 56-5.25 (17.20m), setting a new personal best. Madonia, who entered the competition with a previous best of 55-8 (16.97m), posted his top toss in the event twice, throwing better than 17 meters on his second and third attempts.

Men’s triple jumper Rayshon Higgins (Buffalo, NY/Bishop Timon-St. Jude) was unable to advance past the first round of his event. Higgins, the two-time Mid-American Conference champion in the event, turned in a leap of 48-6 (14.78m) on his first attempt in the opening round to place 19th overall.

The UB women scored a team total of 12 points to place in a tie for 16th among 57 scoring teams. Vance scored 11 of UB’s points with her third-place finish on Saturday and the fourth-place showing in the shot put on Friday. Vanessa Roelofsen (Alma, Ontario/Norwell District SS) scored UB’s other point with an eighth-place finish in the javelin. Roelofsen set a season-best on Friday with her toss of 153-2 (46.68m)

Two Atlantic Coast Conference schools won the overall team championships. The Virginia Tech women scored 89 points to easily outdistance second-place South Carolina’s 62. Florida State won the men’s title with 91 points as 58 men’s squads made the scoreboard. The UB men did not score on the weekend.

Vance will next compete in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in Sacramento, CA on June 7-10.