BACK-TO-BACK: Natalia Sawyer Repeats as 400-Meter Hurdles National Champion!
Buffalo Sports Information Department
MYRTLE BEACH, SC – After inclement weather pushed back the start of the finals for the 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles by over three hours on Saturday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Natalia Sawyer (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont) of the Buffalo State women's track and field team became the first three-time national champion in school history, successfully defending her title in the 400-meter hurdles with the second-fastest time in Division III history. She also finished as the national runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles, claiming First Team All-America honors in both events to become a six-time All-American.
Setting a season-best mark in the 400 Hurdles prelims on Thursday at 58.78 seconds, Sawyer was the second-fastest qualifier into the finals, and started in lane five. Sprinting out of the blocks, Sawyer and Ren Brown of the University of Chicago shot ahead of the rest of the competition and were stride-for-stride through the first eight hurdles. Brown looked to be pulling ahead after the final hurdle, but Sawyer began to chase down the national-record holder in the final sprint. Going to the line, the pair couldn't be separated, but Sawyer appeared to edge ahead at the finish line. After a tense few seconds for calculations, Sawyer was announced as the winner, finishing with a time of 58.01 seconds, just four-thousandths of a second better than Brown. The mark also broke the school and conference records in the event.
Just over an hour earlier, Sawyer took second place in the 100 Hurdles. Also entering the finals as the second-fastest qualifier from Friday evening's prelims after breaking her own school and conference records, Sawyer started in lane five. She quickly raced out of the blocks, but was behind Stevens' Laura Matthews after the first 50 meters. Closing quickly, Sawyer finished in a time of 13.72 seconds, but was just behind Matthews' winning time of 13.67 seconds.
Her eighteen points scored, combined with six points from Makhia Laster's (Buffalo, NY/Tapestry Charter) third-place finish, gives Buffalo State 24 points. Buffalo State finished seventh nationally.
