MAC Championship Weekend: Falcons Look To Take Next Step

Friday, February 27

Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

10:00 AM

Bowling Green State University

MAC Indoor Championships

February 25, 2015 | Women's Track and Field

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

Mount Pleasant, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University indoor track and field team will look to take another step towards the top of the MAC standings this weekend as the Falcons head to Central Michigan University for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships Friday and Saturday. The Falcons will look to improve both their team placement and total team points for the third consecutive season. BGSU tied for eighth place a year ago with 38 points.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
The BGSU track and field team can be followed all winter/spring long through a number of ways. Social media links are listed below and live results and live video (as available) can be found on BGSUFalcons.com as meets provide those opportunities.

Twitter - @BGAthletics and @BGXCTrack
Instagram – BGFalcons and bg_xctrackandfield
Facebook – BGSU Athletics
YouTube – FalconAthletics

ABOUT THIS MAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The Mid-American Conference Championships will take place Friday and Saturday at Central Michigan University's Jack Skoog Indoor Track & Field Complex. Events are slated to begin with the pentathlon Friday at 10 am and the Falcons will get things started Saturday with the triple jump at 11 am.

The schedule of events is listed below with BGSU's participants:

Friday
10:00 am - Pentathlon (5. Krystin Reiser, 7. Sydnee Matthew)
1:30 pm – Weight throw (3. Brooke Pleger, 7. Kori Reiser, 9. Kayla Velasquez)
3:00 pm – 60 hurdles prelims (13. Demetra Taylor)
3:30 pm – 400 prelims (2. Brittany Sinclair, 14. Taylor Rambo)
3:58 pm – 60 prelims (7. Alicia Arnold, 11. Dorresha Green)
4:45 pm – Long jump (6. Alicia Arnold, 15. Kyla Paster, 19. Raven Porter)
4:50 pm – 200 prelims (4. Alicia Arnold, 15. Brittany Sinclair, 16. Cortisha Short)
5:15 pm – 5000 (12. Becca Rae, 14. Mackenzie McMillin, 15. Amanda Garlak)

Saturday
11:00 am – Triple jump (8. Kyla Paster, 10. Tiera Parker)
1:00 pm – Shot put (4. Makenzie Wheat)
1:05 pm – Mile (16. Maria Meredith)
1:55 pm – 60 hurdles finals
2:00 pm – High jump (13. Raven Porter, 19. Krystin Reiser)
2:15 pm – 400 finals
2:40 pm – 60 finals
3:20 pm – 200 finals
3:40 pm – 3000 (17. Becca Rae, 19. Andrea Alt)
4:15 pm – 1600 relay (7. Bowling Green)

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
"This is one of our biggest meets of the year. The women have a real opportunity to continue to move the program forward. We talk about performance and stepping up on the day as one of our team values; now we have a chance to put that value into action."
-- BGSU Head Coach Lou Snelling

RECENT HISTORY SHOWS IMPROVEMENT
A year ago, the BGSU Track & Field team tied for eighth place at the MAC Indoor Championships with 38 points. That score more than tripled the team's output of 12 points for an 11^th place finish in 2013. In fact, it came a long way from a last place finish in 2012 with just one point. Despite having to replace graduated senior Jeanette Pettigrew, who won the MAC Championship in the 60 and placed second in the 200, the team would score 40 points this year if every athlete finished where they are seeded.

PLEGER PUSHING FOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCE
If Brooke Pleger qualifies for the NCAA Indoor National Championships in the weight throw this year, she will become the first Falcon to represent the University at that meet since Stephanie Heldt in the high jump in 2001. BGSU has never had a qualifier for the national championships in the weight throw. In all, 16 competitors will qualify for the meet and Pleger currently ranks 14th in the nation. Listed below are all Falcons ranking among the top 100 in the country in an event.

Shot put – 33. Makenzie Wheat 52-1, 74. Aliyah Gustafson 49-4.5
Weight throw – 14. Brooke Pleger 68-2.5

GOLD RECORDS
BGSU has broken four school records this year and senior Brittany Sinclair has etched her name at the top of the record books in two different events. Sinclair broke the school record in the 300 at the BG Opener with a time of 40.67 seconds, better than the previous mark of 41.05 seconds by Brittani McNeal in 2007. She then broke the school record in the 400 at the Akron Invitational, a record that had stood for 16 years. Her time of 55.46 seconds bested Tracy Hill's time of 55.75 seconds in 1999.

Senior Brooke Pleger also broke a school record at the Akron Invitational, bettering her own record in the weight throw. With a toss of 68-feet-2.5, she was more than four inches better than the mark she set a year ago of 67-10.25.

Finally, sophomore Makenzie Wheat broke a 21-year old school record in the shot put at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational, throwing it 52-1. The old mark was established in 1994 when two-time All-American Nikki Lessig posted a distance of 51-4.5.

FRESHMEN CONTRIBUTING EARLY
Four BGSU freshmen qualified for the MAC Indoor Championships in five events. Sydnee Matthew is the highest seeded at No. 7 in the pentathlon. Kyla Paster qualified in two events and is seeded eighth in the triple jump and 15^th in the long jump. Dorresha Green (11^th in the 60) and Cortisha Short (16^th in the 200) will also represent the Falcons.

HEAVING HEAVY OBJECTS
The Mid-American Conference is one of the best in the country at producing throwers and Bowling Green's throws program is one of the best in the MAC. Three Falcons are seeded among the top nine in the MAC in the weight throw, while Makenzie Wheat is the No. 4 seed in the shot put. The Falcons' depth would have been even more apparent as Aliyah Gustafson would have qualified in both events but a season-ending injury will keep her out of the meet.

MAC PRESEASON RANKINGS
The coaches of the Mid-American Conference picked Bowling Green to finish 10^th in the 2014-15 preseason poll. Kent State was picked to win the league, followed by Akron, Eastern Michigan, Buffalo and Western Michigan. Toledo was sixth, with Central Michigan, Miami and Northern Illinois following. After Bowling Green, Ohio and Ball State were picked 11th and 12th.

YOUTH STILL RULES
While the BGSU Track and Field program has matured over the past few years, the team is still extremely young. In total, there are only four seniors on the 2014-15 roster to go with nine juniors, 12 sophomores and 13 freshmen.

RETURNING POINT SCORERS
Although the team does have youth, the Falcons also return more experience than in previous seasons. In fact, six current student-athletes have scored at the MAC Indoor Championships at least once in their careers. Alicia Arnold, Taylor Rambo, Brittany Sinclair and Demetra Taylor have all raced to a top eight finish at the MAC Indoor Championships in the 1600 relay and Sinclair has added a top eight result in the 400. Makenzie Wheat finished sixth in the shot put a year ago as a freshman and Brooke Pleger has finished fourth and fifth in the weight throw in the past two years.

CLIMBING TOWARDS THE TOP
Under head coach Lou Snelling, the Bowling Green indoor track and field program took a big step forward a year ago in the Mid-American Conference and the Falcons will look to replicate that improvement this year. The Falcons placed 11^th out of 12 teams in each of Snelling's first two seasons, scoring a combined 26 points at the MAC Championships during those two seasons. Last year, BGSU scored 38 points and tied for eighth place.