TRACK & FIELD

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BUFFALO, NY - For the first time in its history, the University at Buffalo will be sending three student-athletes to the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Seniors Allison Laske (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) (800-meters), Laura Olson (Lyons, NY/Lyons) (pole vault) and Steve Esler (Rochester, NY/Aquinas) (decathlon) will represent the Bulls at the national meet, which will be held from Wednesday, June 9 through Saturday, June 12 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, TX.

Allison Laske

Laske will be making her first NCAA Championships appearance after finishing fourth in the 800-meters at the NCAA East Regional on Saturday in a time of 2:07.05. Her school record and regional qualifying time of 2:04.81, set at the Stanford Cardinal Invitational on April 30, is the 10th-fastest time in the championship field. That mark was also an Olympic Trial B Cut time.

Laura Olson

The most-experienced NCAA participant in the group, Olson earned her third career trip to the NCAA Championships with a third-place finish in the pole vault at the NCAA East Regional on Friday. Olson set a school record and an NCAA East Regional record by clearing 13-5.75" (4.11m) in the event, tying for first in height but finishing third based on number of misses. That height is currently tied for 11th among the NCAA participants. Olson finished 13th at the outdoor national championships last year, clearing 13-1.5", and she placed 14th at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this year.

Steve Esler

Esler earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships for the first time in his career after provisionally qualifying with a point total of 7,306 at the Hillsdale Gina Relays in late April. The decathlon was not contested at the NCAA East Regionals last weekend, but Esler's point total, currently 24th in the nation, was good enough to make the 26-person championship field. Esler is UB's first male track athlete to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

The top eight American finishers in each event at the NCAA Championships earn All-American status, an achievement that a Buffalo track and field athlete has earned once before, when Lockport native Shelly Hamilton finished eighth in the high jump in 1998.