Falcon Throwers Highlight Trip To Ann Arbor To Conclude Regular Season

Friday, February 16

Ann Arbor, Mich.

11:00 AM

Bowling Green State University

Silverston Invitational

Falcon Throwers Highlight Trip To Ann Arbor To Conclude Regular Season

February 15, 2018 | Women's Track and Field

By: by Jason Knavel, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications

Ann Arbor, Mich. –Bowling Green State University will send a limited group of student-athletes to Michigan's Silverston Invitational Friday for the final regular season weekend of the indoor track and field season. BGSU's throws group, as well as specific middle distance and distance runners will compete.

Indoor School Records
Performance List
Live Results

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
The BGSU track and field team can be followed all winter/spring long through a number of ways. Social media links are listed below and live results and live video (as available) can be found on BGSUFalcons.com as meets provide those opportunities.

Twitter - @BGAthletics and @BG_XCTrack
Instagram – BGFalcons and BG_XCTrack
Facebook – BGSU Athletics
YouTube – FalconAthletics

SILVERSTON INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE
FRIDAY
11:00 am - Shot put (Elizabeth Iversen, Zaresha Neal, Daija Young, Aliyah Gustafson, BeJai Fray, Peyton Lee)
12:20 pm - Mile (Megan Aalberts)
1:30 pm - Weight throw (Kaila Butler, Allie Farmer, Aliyah Gustafson, Elizabeth Iversen, Daija Young, Zaresha Neal)
2:35 pm - 800 (Rachel Durbin, Jessi Lindstrom)
3:25 pm - 3000 (Kelsie Mothersead)

THE COMPUTERS KNOW
Bowling Green began the season ranked No. 104 in the country. Steadily, the Falcons have improved their ranking throughout the year, peaking at No. 53 this week. Up five spots from last week's high-water mark, the Falcons' current ranking is the best in program history (since the computer poll began in 2008).

Along with those rankings, BGSU is currently ranks No. 11 in the Great Lakes Region, third among all MAC schools.

ELITE THROWERS
Each week, the USTFCCCA ranks each school on an event-by-event basis based on the top four competitors for each team in that event. Bowling Green is ranked third nationally in the weight throw and fifth in the country in the shot put. The Falcons join Minnesota (No. 1 in both events), North Dakota State (No. 2 in shot put, No. 4 in weight throw) and Oklahoma (No. 3 in shot put, No. in weight throw) as the only programs to be ranked in the top 10 in the country in both throws events.

THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE COMING

BGSU will host three meets in Perry Field House during the indoor season, concluding with the Mid-American Conference Championships Feb. 23-24.
Tickets are on sale now by visiting BGSUFalcons.com/tickets
Bowling Green last hosted the indoor track and field MAC Championships in 2011, placing eighth with 45 team points.
Five men's teams and 12 women's teams will descend on Bowling Green for the MAC Championships.
The Falcons already hosted the BG Opener in December and the Tom Wright Classic.

MAC AUTO BIDS

BGSU has earned 11 Mid-American Conference automatic qualifying marks this year, including six in the two throws events.
The Falcons picked up four auto bids in the weight throw. Aliyah Gustafson, Elizabeth Iversen, Kaila Butler and Allie Farmer all earned automatic entry to the MAC Championships.
In the shot put, both Gustafson and Iversen added second automatic bids.
BGSU also earned two automatic qualifying marks in the long jump. Kyla Paster and BeJai Fray both jumped far enough to earn entry to the MAC Championships.
Paster also recorded an automatic qualifying distance in the triple jump with a career-best leap of 38-feet-10.25.
Peyton Lee, a sophomore transfer from Northern Kentucky, has run the 60 hurdles in 8.52 seconds to earn a MAC auto bid.
Rachel Walny, who qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in the 10,000 a year ago, earned an automatic qualifying bid in the 5,000 with a time of 16:49.69.

BGSU IN THE MAC RANKINGS (TOP 20)
60 – 10. Savannah Nevels 7.67, 16. Dorresha Green 7.71
200 – 10. Savannah Nevels 24.69#, 12. Ryen Draper 24.77#, 18. Peyton Lee 24.99#, 19. Cortisha Short 25.00#
400 – 15. Chasatea Brown 56.65, 16. Ryen Draper 56.70
Mile – 19. Rachel Durbin 5:00.71
3000 – 16. Rachel Walny 9:49.85
5000 – 8. Rachel Walny 16:49.69 (AQ), 18. Elena Lancioni 17:31.29
60 hurdles – 7. Peyton Lee 8.52 (AQ)
1600 relay – 10. Chasatea Brown, Savannah Nevels, Peyton Lee, Ryen Draper 3:51.84
High jump – 14. BeJai Fray 1.64m (5-4.5), 14. Stacey Wolverton 1.64m (5-4.5)
Long jump – 9. Kyla Paster 5.77m (18-11.25) (AQ), 11. BeJai Fray 5.74m (18-10) (AQ), 13. Peyton Lee 5.61m (18-5)
Triple jump – 8. Kyla Paster 11.84m (38-10.25) (AQ), 18. Brianna Richard 11.05m (36-3)
Shot put – 1. Aliyah Gustafson 17.42m (57-2) (AQ), 2. Elizabeth Iversen 16.74m (54-11.25) (AQ), 12. Zaresha Neal 14.01m (45-11.75)
Weight throw – 2. Elizabeth Iversen 20.66m (67-9.5) (AQ), 3. Aliyah Gustafson 19.92m (65-4.25) (AQ), 5. Allie Farmer 18.70m (61-4.25), 8. Kaila Butler 18.36m (60-3) (AQ), 15. Daija Young 16.42m (53-10.5)
Pentathlon – 3. BeJai Fray 3,635, 5. Peyton Lee 3,594
# - Converted time

BGSU IN THE NCAA RANKINGS (TOP 100)
Shot put – 6. Aliyah Gustafson 17.42m (57-2), 15. Elizabeth Iversen 16.74m (54-11.25)
Weight throw – 17. Elizabeth Iversen 20.66m (67-9.5), 33. Aliyah Gustafson 19.92m (65-4.25), 79. Allie Farmer 18.70m (61-4.25), 100. Kaila Butler 18.36m (60-3)
Pentathlon – 67. BeJai Fray 3,635, 75. Peyton Lee 3,594

THROW FOR DOUGH

BGSU's throws group, one of the top units in the country, will compete in both the shot put and weight throw Saturday. The shot put starts at 11 am and the weight throw will begin at 1:30 pm.
BGSU's entire throws group, as well as pentathletes BeJai Fray and Peyton Lee are slated to throw Friday.

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU

The Falcons will enter competitors in both the 800 and the mile Friday
Rachel Durbin and Jessi Lindstrom will each run the 800. Lindstrom's season-best converted time of 2:18.58 is less than two seconds shy of qualifying for the MAC Championships. Durbin will run the 800 for the first time this year, but she has a career-best time of 2:18.31.
Megan Aalberts is scheduled to run the mile. Her season-best time of 5:10.72 is about 10 seconds from MAC qualification.

GOING THE DISTANCE

Kelsie Mothersead will compete in the 3000. She has a season-best time of 11:05.87 and a career-best 10:51.82 in the event. To move into the top 20 and compete for a MAC Championship, she will need to run faster than 9:57.

FALCONS SIGN FIVE

The BGSU cross country and track & field program announced the signing of five high school student-athletes during the early signing 2017-18 early signing period.
The Falcons are excited to welcome Jazzlyn Gaiters (Worthington, Ohio / Thomas Worthington HS), Iyanna Ross (Columbus, Ohio / Pickerington Central HS), Katie Seyfang (Washington Court House, Ohio / Miami Trace HS), Olivia Clymer (White Lake Township, Mich. / White Lake Lakeland HS) and Katerina Shuble (La Porte, Ind. / La Porte HS) to the family.
Gaiters and Ross are sprinters, while Seyfang is a thrower. Clymer is a distance runner who will also compete in cross country and Shuble competes in mid-distance events and will take part in cross country.

QUOTABLE
"We have to make decisions about who needs to compete this weekend and who doesn't. If they aren't competing, we feel like that's the best possible thing for that person. If we are competing, we feel like that's the best possible thing for that person as we look to the MAC Championships. With the nature of throwing, this is an opportunity to move up the national list, to move up the MAC list." – BGSU Track & Field Coach Lou Snelling

GUSTAFSON RAKING IN THE AWARDS

Aliyah Gustafson was named MAC Field Athlete of the Week Jan. 23 after breaking the school's shot put record for the sixth time.
Gustafson was also named the MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Jan. 17 and then again on Feb. 7. Gustafson carries a 4.0 grade point average.

IVERSEN ALSO AWARDED

Elizabeth Iversen has twice been named MAC Field Athlete of the Week.
She was initially recognized as MAC Field Athletic of the Week on Jan. 30 and then added the award a second time this week on Feb. 13.

ALL-ACADEMIC

BGSU's track and field team was named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team for the 2016-17 season, posting a 3.43 combined grade point average.
Current team members Aliyah Gustafson and Rachel Walny, along with graduate Makenzie Wheat, were named USTFCCCA Individual All-Academic award winners.