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Former UMaine Track Standout to Try for Beijing 2008
Jan. 16, 2008
Former UMaine Track and Field standout Vika Rybalko is aiming to make it to Beijing and the 2008 Olympic games. The 24 year old 2003 graduate of the University of Maine will try to make the Ukrainian Olympic Team and travel to China to take on the world. When she was at the University of Maine, she jumped to second place at the Division I NCAA National Championships during her senior season. She recorded a long jump of 6.57m (21'6.75"). At the Penn Relays, Vika still holds third place all-time in the long jump in the history of the Relays. They have been held for more than 100 years. Vika earned the ranking of second in the NCAA and also 34th best jumper in the entire world in 2003. She was also named an All-American after the season. Now four years later she is 11th in the world. Before she is named to the Ukrainian Olympic Team, she has to compete in various events and world championships. So she competed at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan in September 2007. Rybalko long jumped to 11th place with a long jump of 6.77 meters (22' 2.5"). It was her first world championships. She is the Ukrainian National Champion with a long jump of 6.87 meters (22' 6.5"). She will have to compete in various indoor and outdoor championships in Ukraine itself in the spring before making the move to Beijing. Vika graduated with a double major in biochemistry and microbiology at the age of 20. She also won the Dean Smith Award. After graduating from Maine, she attended graduate school at the University of Rochester. She finished her masters degree studying cancer research. After competing in the Olympics she plans to return to the United States to finish her doctorate.
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