GARDEN CITY, Kan. — The Butler women placed third overall the Region VI Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday.
The 10th-ranked Grizzlies scored 110 points, finshing behind No. 5 Barton (189) and No. 7 Coffeyville (165). Butler finished runner-up to Barton in Jayhawk West competition.
Butler had 10 top-three finishes - including three victories and four second-place finishes.
Sophomore Rachael Buzanowski once again broke her own school record in the pole vault, clearing 3.74 meters (12 feet, 3 1/4 inches). Buzanowski cleared 3.50 meters on her third attempt to secure the win, then went over the bar at 3.74 on her second try. Buzanowski's previous best clearance was 3.71 meters, which occured at last week's John Jacobs Invitational in Norman, Okla.
Freshman jumper Valeriya Kostiuk won her sixth straight high jump event and remained unbeaten in outdoor competition with a clearance of 1.71 meters (5 feet, 7 1/4 inches). With four athletes remaining at 1.66 meters, Kostiuk was the last one still jumping after clearing the bar on her second attempt. She needed all three attempts to make the 1.71 mark.
Butler's other first-place finish came in the 400-meter hurdles as sophomore Kristina Vujanic won the event with a time of 1:03.69, beating out Barton's Tamara Style (1:04.91). Vujanic finished with four medals, taking third in Friday's heptathlon and placing in both the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays.
Along with Buzanowski's pole vault win, teammates Danae Bina and Madison McLaughlin placed fourth and sixth in the event as both vaulters cleared 3.05 meters (10 feet). Bina cleared the 3.05 mark on her first attempt, while McLaughlin needed three attempts to go over the bar.
Freshman Sheila Samoei had two runner-up finishes in both the 5,000 and 10,000-meter events and placed sixth in the 1,500-meter run. On Friday, Samoei ran the 10,000 in a time of 42:27.98, then ran a 5:14.42 time in the 1,500 in her first event Saturday. Samoei finished the day with the second-place time of 19:37.32 in the 5,000-meter run.
Butler's 4x100-meter relay team of Ashley Ehrhart, Ona Giles, Jasmine Frazier and Alexxis Milner) placed second with a time of 47.34 seconds, just under a half-second behind Barton (46.92).
Milner, who placed second in the hepathlon, also finished third in the 100-meter dash at 12.09 seconds. She was edged out by runner-up finisher Angelica Collins (12.08) of Coffeyville.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, the Grizzlies had a pair of freshman placers. Janie Salinas took third (13:21.42), while Darian Trost finished eighth with a time of 14:39.12.
Vujanic, Courtney Willis, Angel Malone and Helen Thames placed fourth in the 4x400-meter relay, crossing the finish line in 4:02.21. In addition to the fourth-place finish, Thames took seventh in the 800-meter run (2:30.52), while Willis was eighth in the 400-meter dash (59.92 seconds).
Freshman Faith Odunze had a sixth-place finish in the discus with a top throw of 36.30 meters (119 feet, 1 inch).
On Friday, Milner and Vujanic placed second and third in the hepathlon. Milner scored 4,290 points, finishing first in the 100-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash and long jump events and a runner-up finish in the 800-meter run. Vujanic had 4,234 points, winning the 800-meter event and taking second in the shot put.
The team of Vujanic, Thames, Kalynn Simpson and Samoei took fifth place (10:11.40) in the 4x800-meter relay as well. Salinas (44:05.14) and freshman Alex Fulton (44:09.95) placed seventh and eighth in Friday's 10,000-meter event, respectively.
Next up for Butler will be the NJCAA National Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held in Levelland, Texas on May 17-19.