Falcons Sprint To Michigan

Saturday, January 18

Ann Arbor, Mich.

10:30 AM

Bowling Green State University

Simmons-Harvey Invitational

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

January 16, 2014 | Women's Track and Field

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

SIMMONS-HARVEY INVITATIONAL
Date	Jan. 18, 2014
Time	10:30 AM
Location	Ann Arbor, Mich. \| Indoor Track Building
Coverage	Live Results
Additional Information	Twitter \| Facebook \| Performance List

VOTE FOR BGSU IN THE NCAA 6TH FAN CONTEST

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University indoor track and field team will compete at Michigan's Simmons-Harvey Invitational for the third consecutive year when the Falcons compete Saturday. Field events begin at 10:30 am, while running events start at 12:30 pm at the U-M Indoor Track Building.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
The BGSU track and field team can be followed all spring long through a number of ways. Follow the official team Twitter account @BGXCTrack and the official account of the Athletics Department @BGAthletics. Live results of Saturday's meet can be found through links at BGSUFalcons.com or via the FinishTiming.com website.

ABOUT THE SIMMONS-HARVEY INVITATIONAL
Beginning in 1981, the women's Red Simmons Invitational has been hosted annually and has been run in conjunction with the men's Jack Harvey Invitational for the past six years. There will be no team scoring for the meet and the schedule of events is listed below:

Field Events
10:30 am – Shot Put
11 am – Pole Vault
11:30 am – Long Jump
1 pm – Triple Jump
1:30 pm – High Jump, Weight Throw

Track Events
12:30 pm – 60 hurdles prelims
12:45 pm – 60 prelims
1 pm – Mile
1:20 pm – 60 hurdles finals
1:30 pm – 400
1:45 pm – 600
2 pm – 60 finals
2:10 pm – 800
2:25 pm – 200
2:40 pm – 3000
3 pm – 1600 Relay

LAST TIME OUT
Bowling Green hosted the BG Opener Saturday and placed fourth out of five teams at the meet. The Falcons won four events, including a stellar performance from sophomore transfer Alicia Arnold, who ran the 200 in 24.80 seconds to win the event. Jeanette Pettigrew won the 60 with a strong time of 7.61 seconds after posting a 7.58 in the prelims to qualify first. Natalie Sommerville dominated the 600 in 1:35.93 and Tina Perrine won the weight throw with a toss of 55-feet-2.25.

RETURNING POINT SCORERS
While the Falcons boast a lot of youth on the 2014 team, Bowling Green does return a handful of student-athletes who have a successful history at the MAC Championships. Redshirt junior Brooke Pleger placed fifth in the weight throw a year ago and classmate Brittany Sinclair placed sixth in the 400. Sinclair and sophomore Taylor Rambo represent half of the 1600 relay team that set a school record at the MAC Championships and placed fourth last year. On top of those, redshirt senior Jeanette Pettigrew placed second in the 60 in both 2011 and 2012.

NIFTY SIXTY
Redshirt senior Jeanette Pettigrew has a long and storied history in the 60-meter dash. As a true freshman in 2010, Pettigrew placed sixth at the MAC Championships in the event and then followed that up with second-place finishes in both 2011 and 2012. After redshirting the 2013 season, Pettigrew quickly reminded anyone who may have forgotten about her that she will be one of the favorites again this year. She hit the MAC automatic qualifying mark in the team's opening meet, the Golden Flash Gala, with a time of 7.62 seconds in the prelims and then a 7.56 in the finals. In 2011, she ran the event in a school-record time of 7.40 at the MAC Championships and then went 7.48 in 2012.

UNLEASHING ALICIA
Sophomore transfer Alicia Arnold ran the 200 at the BG Opener for the first time in her Bowling Green career and put together an eye-popping performance. The transfer sophomore from Lake Erie College ran the event in 24.80 seconds (converted to 24.42) to win in fairly easy fashion. Her time is the 18^th fastest in the country this year and surpassed the automatic qualifying time for the MAC Championships.

TRANSFERS OF POWER
Sophomore transfer Alicia Arnold made an immediate impact in strengthening the Falcons in the long jump, leaping 18-feet-5 at the Golden Flash Gala in her first meet with the Orange and Brown. Arnold placed second at the meet and her distance was further than any Falcon jumped a year ago. She also ran 7.67 seconds in the 60, a time which would have placed her seventh at the MAC Championships a year ago.

Senior transfer Tina Perrine also made her mark at the Golden Flash Gala, tossing the weight throw 56-feet-5.25. That was the Falcons' top result and was less than three inches shy of the MAC automatic qualifying mark. She followed that up by winning the event at the BG Opener with a throw of 55-2.25.

MAC RANKINGS
Bowling Green is ranked at the top of the Mid-American Conference in two events currently. Alicia Arnold has the top time in the 200 and Krystin Reiser leads the conference with 3,275 points in the pentathlon. Listed below are all the Falcons currently ranked in the top 10 in the MAC:

60 – 2. Jeanette Pettigrew 7.56 (AQ), 5. Alicia Arnold 7.67
200 – 1. Alicia Arnold 24.42 (AQ), 6. Jeanette Pettigrew 25.02
3000 – 8. Becca Rae 10:26.92
5000 – 6. Kelsey Cogan 20:00.08
60 Hurdles – T6. Demetra Taylor 8.88
1600 Relay – 7. Bowling Green 3:56.74
Long Jump – 8. Alicia Arnold 18-5
Triple Jump – 7. Tiera Parker 37-0.25, 9. Raven Porter 35-6.75
Shot Put – 9. Makenzie Wheat 44-6
Weight Throw – 7. Tina Perrine 56-5.25
Pentathlon – 1. Krystin Reiser 3,275

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Currently, three Falcons are ranked among the top 50 in the country in an event this year, led by Alicia Arnold, who is 18^th in the 200. The list of BGSU athletes in the top 50 are listed below:

60 – 45. Jeanette Pettigrew 7.56
200 – 18. Alicia Arnold 24.42
Pentathlon – 26. Krystin Reiser 3,275

REISING TO THE OCCASION
Junior Krystin Reiser set a new personal best in the pentathlon during the season-opening Golden Flash Gala. With a previous career-best score of 2,857 in the five events that make up the pentathlon, Reiser beat that total by more than 400 points, scoring 3,275.

CAPTAINS
BGSU head coach Lou Snelling has named three captains for the 2013-14 season. Redshirt sophomore Andrea Alt, redshirt junior Brooke Pleger and redshirt senior Jeanette Pettigrew will guide the Falcons.

SNELLING RECOGNIZED BY SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE
A six-time Southland Conference Coach of the Year at Stephen F. Austin, BGSU head coach Lou Snelling was named to the All-Time Southland Conference Honor Roll earlier this year. As part of its 50^th anniversary celebration, the conference honored 65 student-athletes and eight coaches (of which Snelling was recognized) for their historic contributions to the sport.