Friday, May 24
Greensboro, NC
All Day Events
Bowling Green State University
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NCAA East Preliminary Round
Pleger Wins Regional, Qualifies For National Championship
May 24, 2013 | Women's Track and Field
Complete Results
Greensboro, N.C. – Bowling Green State University redshirt sophomore Brooke Pleger won the NCAA East Region Preliminary Friday in the hammer throw, becoming the first BGSU student-athlete in eight years to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. Her toss of 210-feet-1 edged out Akron's Brittany Funk for the win.
“We are incredibly proud of Brooke and how she handled the competition,” Head Coach Lou Snelling said. “The ability level, length of the event, and pressure are all very challenging. She stepped up and handled all of that very well, especially considering this was her first time at an NCAA Prelim.”
The top 12 finishers in the field of 48 advanced to the national championships. Pleger, seeded second, was in the last of three flights and quickly pushed herself into contention with a throw of 199-feet-4 on her first throw. After fouling on each of her next two throws, Pleger headed into the finals in fifth place out of 16.
Her first of three throws in the finals went 204-6 to move her into third and then her second throw was the winner, going 210-1. Funk finished second with a throw of 208-6 and Auburn's Daina Levy was third at 207-3. Princeton's Julia Ratcliffe, who entered the meet as the top seed, was fourth at 206-10 and Ohio State's Alexis Thomas was fifth at 205-3. Along with Pleger and Funk, Buffalo's Shant'e White made three MAC athletes who qualified for the national championships. She was eighth at 199-3.
“The format of this meet is one that is incredibly difficult,” BGSU throws coach Matt Conly said. “It is extremely long and the pressure is elevated because, no matter how great your season was, it comes down to this one competition. It speaks volumes to Brooke's ability to dig in and get it when she had to. Making it out was the only thing that mattered but getting a win was an added bonus. I'm extremely proud of her for battling today.”
How dominant has Pleger been this year? Amazingly, the 210-1 that won the regionals was statistically the worst meet she had this year. Previously, she had not thrown less than 212-6 at a meet. Pleger placed first in five of the six meets she competed in this year. The only time she was defeated was at the Mt. SAC Relays, which included non-collegian Olympic hopefuls and International national team members.
Pleger becomes the first BGSU student-athlete to qualify for the National Championships since Kerri McClung in 2005. McClung had the previous best BGSU regional result, since the NCAA went to the format in 2003, with a seventh place finish that year. Pleger will also look to become the first All-American since Stephanie Heldt in 1999.
“We have to go right back to work,” Conly said. “This was another step to get to the goal we set last summer. Brooke has big throws in her and we will prepare the next 11 days to tap into that and finish what we started.”
The NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships take place June 5-8 in Eugene, Ore. The top 12 finishers from the East will combine with the top 12 finishers from the West for a 24-person field in the hammer throw.
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