Falcons Compete In MAC Indoor Championships Starting Friday

MAC INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Date	Feb. 28-March 1, 2014
Time	10 am
Location	Kent, Ohio \| Kent State Field House
Coverage	MAC Championship Central
Additional Information	Twitter \| Facebook \| Performance List

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University track and field team will compete in the Mid-American Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships Friday and Saturday on the campus of Kent State University. The Falcons will look to improve upon an 11th place finish at the MAC Championships a year ago.

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 (as available) can be found on BGSUFalcons.com as meets provide those opportunities.

ABOUT THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The MAC Indoor Track and Field Championships take place Friday and Saturday. Each event will field 20 competitors from the conference. The schedule of events with BGSU's competitors (and seed) are listed below.

Friday
10:00 am, Weight throw – 3. Brooke Pleger, 5. Tina Perrine, 17. Kori Reiser
10:15 am, Pentathlon – Krystin Reiser
3:00 pm, Long jump – 4. Alicia Arnold, 9. Jeanette Pettigrew, 16. Dana Gates
3:10 pm, 60 hurdles – 14. Demetra Taylor
3:40 pm, 400 – 12. Brittany Sinclair
4:20 pm, 60 – 3. Jeanette Pettigrew
5:25 pm, 200 – 2. Alicia Arnold, 10. Jeanette Pettigrew, 18. Gabrielle Edwards
6:10 pm, 5000 – 10. Jasmine Redman, 15. Andrea Alt
6:55 pm, DMR – 3. BGSU

Saturday
11:05 am, Shot put – 9. Makenzie Wheat
11:15 am, High jump – 16. Krystin Reiser
1:15 pm, Triple jump – 7. Tiera Parker, 15. Raven Porter
1:35 pm, Mile – 8. Rachel Durbin, 20. Maria Meredith
2:05 pm, 60 hurdles finals
2:30 pm, 400 finals
2:55 pm, 60 finals
3:35 pm, 200 finals
4:00 pm, 3000 – 16. Andrea Alt
4:40 pm, 1600 relay – 9. BGSU

REGIONALLY RANKED
The Bowling Green State University indoor track and field program received its first regional ranking since the new ranking system began in 2010 by being No. 15 in the Great Lakes Region in the Jan. 28 poll, according to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Falcons then set a new high on Feb. 18 with a No. 14 regional ranking.

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 10 events. Two Falcons, Alicia Arnold and Jeanette Pettigrew, have qualified in multiple events. Listed below is all qualifying Falcons with their best marks this year.

Long jump – Alicia Arnold 19-5.25
Shot put – Makenzie Wheat 49-5.75
Weight throw – Brooke Pleger 67-10.25; Tina Perrine 60-4
60 – Jeanette Pettigrew 7.56
200 – Alicia Arnold 24.42; Jeanette Pettigrew 24.73
400 – Brittany Sinclair 56.53
5000 – Jasmine Redman 17:26.08
Mile – Rachel Durbin 4:54.66

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.

THROWING HEAVY OBJECTS LONG DISTANCES
Bowling Green's throwers are one of the strengths of the program and the Falcons have qualified three individuals automatically for the MAC Championships. Junior Brooke Pleger and senior Tina Perrine have both thrown over 60 feet in the weight throw and are ranked in the top five in the MAC in the event. Freshman Makenzie Wheat is making an impact in the shot put and has already reached the MAC automatic qualifying mark with a personal best of 49-feet-5.75. On top of those, redshirt freshman Kori Reiser will also compete at the MAC Championships in the weight throw.

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 second-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. She has since followed that up with a personal best throw of 60-4 at the Akron Invitational and has met the MAC automatic qualifying mark.

MAC RANKINGS
Bowling Green is ranked in the top four of the Mid-American Conference in four events currently. Alicia Arnold has the top time in the MAC in the 200, while Jeanette Pettigrew ranks third in the 60. Arnold is also fourth in the long jump and Brooke Pleger is ranked the same in the weight throw. Listed below are all the Falcons currently ranked in the top 10 in the MAC:

60 – 3. Jeanette Pettigrew 7.56 (AQ), 10. Alicia Arnold 7.67
200 – 2. Alicia Arnold 24.42 (AQ)
Mile – 9. Rachel Durbin 4:54.66 (AQ)
1600 relay – 9. Bowling Green 3:49.32
DMR – 3. Bowling Green 12:00.70
Long jump – 4. Alicia Arnold 19-5.25 (AQ)
Triple jump – 7. Tiera Parker 38-4.25
Shot put – 9. Makenzie Wheat 49-5.75 (AQ)
Weight throw – 3. Brooke Pleger 67-10.25 (AQ), 5. Tina Perrine 60-4 (AQ)
Pentathlon – 8. Krystin Reiser 3,438

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Currently, four Falcons are ranked among the top 100 in the country in an event this year, led by Brooke Pleger, who is No. 18 in the weight throw. The top 16 competitors in each event qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships. The list of BGSU athletes in the top 100 are listed below:

Long jump – 90. Alicia Arnold 19-5.25
Shot put – 71. Makenzie Wheat 49-5.75
Weight throw – 18. Brooke Pleger 67-10.25, 87. Tina Perrine 60-4

TRIPLE THREAT
A year ago, Tiera Parker surprised the field at the MAC Outdoor Championships by placing eighth in the triple jump and scoring a point at the meet. This year, she is no longer a surprise. The sophomore ranks seventh in the MAC after jumping a personal best 38-feet-4.25 at the Akron Invitational. She has steadily improved throughout the year, setting a new PR three times, while winning the triple jump at the Simmons-Harvey Invite and the Tom Wright Open.

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. The second time she competed in the pentathlon, she improved to 3,438 points at the Akron Invitational. She is less than 130 points shy of the pentathlon school record of 3,567 points.

PLEGER NAMED MAC FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Junior Brooke Pleger earned the MAC Field Athlete of the Week honor on Feb. 18 after breaking the school record in the weight throw and climbing into the top 20 in the country in the event. She broke the school record at the GVSU Big Meet twice, concluding with a 67-feet-10.25 throw that moved her to 18^th in the nation – a distance six feet further than her previous career best.

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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