Jonathan Jones places 4th at the USA Track and Field Championships

Once, it was Rob Golabek. In the future, it may very well be Devon Patterson from Williamsville South (He's coming. Look him up). But the current top dog in UB's strong throwing program is MAC Champion and rising senior Jon Jones.

I mentioned in a Spring Roundup that Jones had a top-ten throw for among all American athletes in 2014 to his name. He didn't quite live up to that number at the NCAA championships, but still earned second team All-American status.

Unbeknownst to me, there was still some competition left for Jones this summer, as he entered the USA Track and Field National Championships in Sacramento.

Facing an older field that had been training for this specific meet, Jones outdid literally every performance he's ever had, earning a fourth place finish thanks to a massive, 68' 1" throw that set school and MAC records and topped all NCAA competitors in the event.

This was Jones' first USATF National Championship, and naturally his fourth-place result is the highest finish for any Bull in program history. Jones actually broke his records on his first throw before topping that on his second. It's always good to get a strong throw out of the way early so you can really go for it with your remaining attempts.

Jones is now a four-time All-American and two-MAC champion in the outdoor shot put. UB fans should keep him in mind when talk of the 2016 Olympics in Rio rolls around;