Buffalo State Sports Information Department
ROCHESTER, NY - Shevaughn Allen (Buffalo, NY/JFK) and Nat Sawyer (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont) each claimed national titles today as well as earned All-America status in their respective events to wrap up the NCAA Outdoor Championships at St. John Fisher University.
Allen's win came in his signatute event, the triple jump, where he leaped to a facility -record distance of 15.57 meters. The next closest competitor recorded a mark 15.34 meters. Allen took control of first place after his third jump with a leap of 15.52 meters. Heading into the final round of jumps, Allen's first jump was the mark to beat as he outlasted the rest of the field. Allen is the first national champion for the men's outdoor track team since Ben Ezike won the triple jump back in 2016.
Sawyer's win came shortly after in the 400-meter hurdles. After posting the top qualifying time on Thursday in the prelims, Sawyer bested her mark with a time of 58.66 seconds, with second place coming in at 59.17 seconds. Sawyer's time re-broke the facility record she set in the prelims and earned her status as the first national champion on the women's outdoor track team since Sasha Henry (100m dash) and Jazmin Dunham (200m dash) back in 2013.
This is also the first time in program history that a male and female athlete won a national title in the same outdoor season for Buffalo State.
As a team the men finished tied for 25th and the women finished tied for 21st.
