College | Mississippi
Competed four years at Ole Miss, ranks third in pentathlon (3,850), fourth indoor high jump 5-8.75 (1.75), and fifth in heptathlon (5,456) on all-time lists … Finished fifth in 2023 SEC heptathlon with career best score of 5,456 points which included PR marks in shot put (41-3.25 | 12.58) and javelin (133-0 | 40.55) … Competed in high jump at NCAA East Preliminary round, clearing 5-9.75 (1.77) to place 13th with the top 12 advancing to the NCAA Championships … Opened outdoor season at Tiger Track Classic, winning the high jump with a 5-9.25 (1.76) clearance … Competed in five events at Ole Miss Classic which included placing third in high jump (5-8 | 1.73) … Finished fifth in heptathlon with 4,837 points at Joe Walker Invitational and also placed fourth in high jump (5-3.75 | 1.62) … Improved to 5,278 points to place eighth in heptathlon at Virginia Challenge and finished fifth in high jump at 5-5 (1.65) while clearing 5-8 (1.73) in heptathlon high jump.
Indoors: Placed 11th in SEC pentathlon with score of 3,754 and finished ninth in high jump with 5-7.75 (1.72) height … Opened indoor season contesting four events at Vanderbilt Commodore Challenge – 60m hurdles, long jump, triple jump and 4 x 400m relay … Finished seventh in pentathlon at Vanderbilt Invitational with score of 3,532 points … Competing at Razorback Invitational finished ninth in pentathlon with score of 3,812 points … At Tyson Invitational contested three events – high jump (5-6.5|1.69), long jump (17-6.25|5.34), and shot put (38-0.25|11.59).
2022
Outdoor: Finished fifth in SEC heptathlon with a score of 5,104 points, where she produced the top mark in the shot put with a 39-1 (11.91) toss and set a career best of 14.68 in the 100m hurdles … Qualified for NCAA East Preliminary round in high jump, cleared 5-5.25 (1.66) … Started outdoor season competing in four events at Tiger Track Classic, where top finish was fifth in long jump with a leap of 19-0.5 (5.80) … Won high jump at Ole Miss Classic with height of 5-8.75 (1.75) and placed fifth in long jump with a 18-3.25 (5.57) mark … Runner-up in heptathlon with 5,108 points at Joe Walker Invitational, which included leading the field in high jump at 5-8.5 (1.74) and javelin with a throw of 118-9 (36.21) … Finished third in high jump with clearance of 5-7.25 (1.71) at Crimson Tide Invitational … Placed fourth in high jump (5-5.75|167) and ninth in long jump (19-4w|5.89w) at LSU Invitational.
Indoor: Produced a career best score of 3,850 in pentathlon to place ninth in SEC Championships … Placed fourth with 3,754 points at Indiana University Relays.
2021
Scored 5,090 points to place 13th in SEC heptathlon … Established long jump career best of 19-5.25 (5.92) to place fifth at John McDonnell Invitational … Scored 4,844 points to place third in heptathlon at Joe Walker Invitational … Placed 12th in pentathlon at SEC Indoor with 3,488 points … Finished eighth with 3,414 points at Razorback Invitational.
2020
SEC Indoor placed 13th in high jump (5-5.75|1.67) and 17th in pentathlon (3,424 points) … Scored 3,511 points to place fourth in pentathlon at Indiana University Relays … Finished seventh in pentathlon at Kentucky’s Rod McCravy Memorial with 3,365 points.
High School
2019 graduate of Red Jacket HS in Shortsville, New York … Lettered three years in track and field, four years in basketball and soccer, along with one year in softball … Finished fifth in pentathlon with career best 3,169 points at 2019 New York State Championships … Set career best of 37-6.25 in triple jump victory at Section 5 Class Championships … Scored 1,177 points during varsity basketball career … Established four school records in track and field.
Personal
Sara Tessa-Lynn Van Aken was born April 17, 2001 in Syracuse, New York … Hometown is Shortsville, New York … Daughter of Scott and Rechelle Van Aken … Has two younger siblings – Reanna and Stephanie … Majoring in Operations Management … Has two cats named Bean and Lil Tater … Chose Arkansas for the top notch facilities along with the team environment and the amount of time the coaches invest in their athletes.
