Falcons Stay In NW Ohio To Compete At Findlay Open

TOM WRIGHT OPEN
Date	Jan. 31, 2014
Time	12:00 PM
Location	Findlay, Ohio \| The Robert A. Malcolm Athletic Center
Coverage	TBA
Additional Information	Twitter \| Facebook \| Performance List

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University indoor track and field team, ranked No. 15 in the Great Lakes Region, will make the short drive south on I-75 Friday to compete in the Findlay Open/Elite Throw Competition. Field events are scheduled to begin at noon, while running events begin at 5 pm.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
The BGSU track and field team can be followed all winter/spring long through a number of ways. Follow the official team Twitter account @BGXCTrack and the official account of the Athletics Department @BGAthletics. Links for live results and live video will be made available on BGSUFalcons.com as meets provide those opportunities.

ABOUT THE FINDLAY OPEN/ELITE THROW COMPETITION
The Findlay Open will be an unscored meet Friday with separate competitions in the weight throw and shot put for "elite" competitors. The tentative schedule of events is listed below.

Field Events
12 pm – Weight throw
2 pm – Shot put
3 pm – Long jump
3:30 pm – Pole vault
3:30 pm – High jump
3:30 pm – ELITE shot put
5:30 pm – Triple jump
6 pm – ELITE weight throw

Track Events
5 pm – 60 hurdles prelims
5:20 pm – 60 prelims
5:50 pm – 60 hurdles finals
6 pm – 60 finals
6:05 pm – Mile
6:40 pm – 400
7:05 pm – 600
7:15 pm – 1000
7:25 pm – 200
7:55 pm – 800
8:15 pm – 3000
9 pm – 1600 relay

LAST TIME OUT
Bowling Green hit three Mid-American Conference automatic qualifying marks and finished second out of three teams in the Tom Wright Open Friday evening. Junior Brooke Pleger won the weight throw with a toss of 61-feet-10 that ranks her fourth in the MAC. Sophomore Alicia Arnold had the second-furthest long jump in program history, leaping 19-5 to win the event. Freshman Rachel Durbin became the first Falcon to run the mile in under five minutes since 2011 with a time of 4:57.57 to finish second and automatically qualify for the MAC Championships.

REGIONALLY RANKED
The Bowling Green State University indoor track and field program is ranked regionally for the first time since the new ranking system began in 2010. The Falcons are No. 15 in the Great Lakes Region, according to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). BGSU is one of six MAC schools in the rankings, which is led by Ohio State. The ranking is a strong indicator of the progress being made within the program.

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.

MAC QUALIFIERS
A year ago, only then-sophomore Brooke Pleger reached the Mid-American Conference's automatic qualifying mark for an event, doing so in the weight throw. This year, the Falcons have surpassed MAC auto marks in five events. Alicia Arnold has done so in both the 200 and long jump, Pleger has again reached in the weight throw, Rachel Durbin has done so in the mile and Jeanette Pettigrew has hit the mark in the 60.

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 fastest in the conference 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 bumped that to 19-5.25 at the Tom Wright Open, the second-furthest long jump in program history and the second-furthest in the MAC this year.

Arnold has also run 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.

MAC RANKINGS
Bowling Green is ranked in the top three of Mid-American Conference in three events currently. Alicia Arnold has the top time in the 200, while Jeanette Pettigrew ranks second in the 60 and Alicia Arnold is second in the long jump. Listed below are all the Falcons currently ranked in the top 10 in the MAC:

60 – 2. Jeanette Pettigrew 7.56 (AQ), 7. Alicia Arnold 7.67
200 – 1. Alicia Arnold 24.42 (AQ), 10. Jeanette Pettigrew 25.02
Mile – 5. Rachel Durbin 4:54.66 (AQ)
5000 – 7. Andrea Alt 17:39.93
60 Hurdles – 8. Demetra Taylor 8.88
1600 Relay – 6. Bowling Green 3:51.15
Long Jump – 2. Alicia Arnold 19-5.25 (AQ)
Triple Jump – 6. Tiera Parker 37-10
Weight Throw – 4. Brooke Pleger 61-10.25 (AQ)
Pentathlon – 6. Krystin Reiser 3,275

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Currently, four Falcons are ranked among the top 100 in the country in an event this year, led by Krystin Reiser, who is 37th in the pentathlon. The list of BGSU athletes in the top 100 are listed below:

200 – 70. Alicia Arnold 24.42
5000 – 70. Andrea Alt 17:39.93
Long jump – 58. Alicia Arnold 19-5.25
Weight throw – 46. Brooke Pleger 61-10.25
Pentathlon – 74. 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 50th anniversary celebration, the conference honored 65 student-athletes and eight coaches (of which Snelling was recognized) for their historic contributions to the sport.

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