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SACRAMENTO, CA - University at Buffalo junior Laura Olson (Lyons, NY/Lyons) fell just shy of her All-American dreams on Saturday night at the NCAA Division I National Championships at Sacramento State.

Laura Olson

Olson, who was seeking to become just Buffalo's second Division I track and field All-American, went out at the second height in the pole vault final. Olson cleared the initial starting height of 12-9" on her third and final attempt before missing at 13-1¹/₂" on all three tries. She had cleared that same height (which is just ¹/₄" short of her school record) on her final attempt on Thursday to advance to the finals.

Olson was seeking to finish in the top eight overall to earn All-American honors. UB's Shelly Hamilton, of nearby Lockport, was eighth in the high jump when Buffalo hosted the 1998 NCAA Championships at UB Stadium to become UB's first Division I track All-American.

Teammate Biaunca McFarland (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) also earned a berth at the nationals and just missed the finals in the triple jump. It was a first for Buffalo to have two competitors at the Division I championships.

"I'm happy for both Laura and Biaunca," said men's track and field coach Perry Jenkins, who was at the event with vault coach Tim Beach." It's a great moment for the University at Buffalo for two ladies to make it to the NCAAs. It's a sign that our program is going in the right direction. For the athletes that we have back home, and the recruits coming in, this shows them what they are capable of."

"The coaching that Laura received from Coach Beach this year allowed her to make great improvement," said Jenkins. "Laura knows that she can be back and now that she got that taste of what it's like to be here, she wants to get up on that podium next year instead of just in the finals."

Oregon's Becky Holliday, a senior, won the event at 14-5¹/₂. Of the top 10 finishers in the event, five were seniors.