Falcons Hit Home Stretch At Akron This Weekend

AKRON INVITATIONAL
Date	Feb. 7-8, 2014
Time	Feb. 7, 3 pm \| Feb. 8, 9 am
Location	Akron, Ohio \| Stile Athletics Field House
Coverage	Live Results \| Live Video
Additional Information	Twitter \| Facebook \| Performance List

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University track and field team will compete at the Akron Invitational Friday and Saturday. The event takes place at the Stile Athletics Field House with a 3 pm start for the discus Friday and a 9 am start Saturday.

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 AKRON INVITATIONAL
More than 500 athletes from 17 schools will compete in the Akron Invitational, an unscored meet Friday and Saturday. The entire meet will be streamed live on the internet, courtesy GoZips.com. Some events are broken into two divisions, Blue and Gold (elite division). The tentative schedule of events is listed below.

Friday
3 pm - Discus
5:15 pm – Pentathlon 60 hurdles
6:30 pm – Blue long jump
8 pm – Distance medley relay
9 pm – Gold 5000

Saturday
9 am (Rolling Schedule) – 5000 (If needed); 3000; mile
11 am – Blue weight throw
11 am – Blue shot put
11 am – Blue triple jump
11 am – Blue high jump
11:45 am (Rolling Schedule) – 60 hurdles; 400
12:45 pm (Rolling Schedule) – 60; 800; 200
3:10 pm – Gold long jump
3:25 pm – Gold weight throw
3:30 pm – Gold mile
3:45 pm – Gold 60 hurdles finals
4:05 pm – Gold 400
4:25 pm – Gold 60 finals
4:30 pm – Gold high jump
4:30 pm – Gold triple jump
4:45 pm – Gold 800
5:05 pm – Gold 200
5:15 pm – Gold 3000
6 pm – Gold 1600 relay

LAST TIME OUT
Three Falcons reached Mid-American Conference automatic qualifying marks as the team competed at the Findlay Open during the past weekend. Freshman Makenzie Wheat set a personal best in the shot put by more than two feet with a distance of 47-feet-10 to qualify. Senior Tina Perrine went more than three feet past her personal best in the weight throw to reach the qualification standard with a toss of 59-11.75. Another senior, Jeanette Pettigrew, ran the 200 in a converted time of 24.73 seconds to make the MAC Championship field in a second event (joining the 60, which she qualified in earlier this year). Junior Natalie Sommerville picked up a victory in the 600 with a time of 1:38.45 at the meet.

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 were again ranked No. 15 in the poll released Tuesday. BGSU is one of six MAC schools in the rankings, which is led by Notre Dame. 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 eight 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 47-10
Weight throw – Brooke Pleger 61-10.25; Tina Perrine 59-11.75
60 – Jeanette Pettigrew 7.56
200 – Alicia Arnold 24.42; Jeanette Pettigrew 24.73
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.

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. She has since followed that up with a personal best throw of 59-11.75 at the Findlay Open to reach the MAC automatic qualifying standard.

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 MAC in the 200, while Jeanette Pettigrew ranks second in the 60 and Arnold has added a second-place ranking 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), 7. Jeanette Pettigrew 24.73 (AQ)
Mile – 6. Rachel Durbin 4:54.66 (AQ)
5000 – 9. Andrea Alt 17:39.93
60 hurdles – 10. Demetra Taylor 8.88
1600 relay – 8. Bowling Green 3:51.15
Long jump – 2. Alicia Arnold 19-5.25 (AQ)
Triple jump – 8. Tiera Parker 37-10
Shot put – 9. Makenzie Wheat 47-10 (AQ)
Weight throw – 4. Brooke Pleger 61-10.25 (AQ), 5. Tina Perrine 59-11.75 (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 Brooke Pleger, who is 49th in the weight throw. The list of BGSU athletes in the top 100 are listed below:

200 – 87. Alicia Arnold 24.42
Long jump – 70. Alicia Arnold 19-5.25
Shot put – 86. Makenzie Wheat 47-10
Weight throw – 49. Brooke Pleger 61-10.25, 72. Tina Perrine 59-11.75

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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