Track & Field Returns To Action This Weekend

Friday, April 17

Muncie, Ind.

TBA

Bowling Green State University

Cardinal Invitational

April 15, 2015 | Women's Track and Field

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

Performance Lists

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University track and field team will head to Ball State for the Cardinal Invitational Friday for an opportunity to compete on the same track that the Mid-American Conference Championships will be held on. Senior Brittany Sinclair, though, will compete at the Virginia Challenge Friday and Saturday, hosted by the University of Virginia.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
The BGSU track and field team can be followed all 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 THE CARDINAL INVITATIONAL
The Cardinal Invitational is a one-day meet hosted by Ball State and held at University Track in Muncie, Ind. The meet begins at 10 am on Friday. The rolling schedule for the meet is listed below:

Field Events
11 am – Hammer throw
11 am – Long jump (women, followed by men)
11 am – High jump (men, followed by women)
12 pm – Javelin (men, followed by women)
12:30 pm – Shot put (women, followed by men)
1 pm – Triple jump (women, followed by men)
2 pm – Discus (women, followed by men)

Running Events
12:10 pm – 400 relay
12:30 pm – 5000
1:15 pm – 1500
1:55 pm – 110 hurdles
2:10 pm – 400
2:40 pm – 100
3 pm – 400 hurdles
3:15 pm – 800
3:50 pm – 200
4:10 pm – 3000 steeplechase
5 pm – 1600 relay

ABOUT THE VIRGINIA CHALLENGE
The Virginia Challenge is a two-day meet hosted by the University of Virginia and held at Lannigan Field in Charlottesville, Va. More than 35 teams are scheduled to be in attendance for the meet. Brittany Sinclair is schedule to compete in both the 400 and the 400 hurdles. The schedule of those events is listed below:

Friday
3:45 pm – 400 (sections 2-7)
8:50 pm – 400 invitational

Saturday
4:30 pm – 400 hurdles

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
"We have three big weekends left of the regular season we need to take full advantage of. Friday is an opportunity for us to get comfortable with the facility and continue to improve before the MAC Championships in May." --- BGSU Head Coach Lou Snelling

REGIONAL DUAL MEET RANKINGS
Bowling Green was ranked No. 13 in the Great Lakes Region by Track and Field News for dual meet rankings. The Falcons are fifth among MAC schools in the rankings.

THE COMPUTER RANKINGS
Bowling Green is ranked No. 55 in the country in the latest national team rankings by the United States Track & Field Cross and Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). BGSU opened the season at No. 63, the team's best preseason ranking since the system was implemented in 2008. The Falcons climbed to No. 57 in the first regular season ranking and then rose two more spots to No. 55 in the latest ranking.

SINCLAIR SIZZLES
Redshirt senior Brittany Sinclair has set herself up as one of the favorites to win the 400 hurdles at the MAC Championships. She opened the year with a time of 1:01.13 to rank first in the MAC in the event. This past weekend, a pair of runners surpassed that time but so did Sinclair as she posted a career-best 59.77 to remain at the top of the conference standings. She was just .03 seconds shy of the BGSU school record and is the only student-athlete in the MAC to run the event in under 60 seconds this year.

ONE IN A McMILLIN
Redshirt sophomore Mackenzie McMillin opened some eyes at the Raleigh Relays when she beat her personal best in the 10,000 by more than 100 seconds. She ran the event in 36:14.29 to easily surpass her previous best time of 37:56.61 at last year's MAC Championships. She currently ranks third in the conference in the event.

OH SO CLOSE
Alicia Arnold posted a leap of 19-feet-0.75 at the Toledo Dual to rank second in the MAC in the long jump, less than one inch behind Northern Illinois' Claudette Day at the top of the league leaderboard. Arnold also ranks second in the 100, fifth in the 200 and 17^th in the high jump.

DROPPING THE HAMMER
The Falcons' deepest and most competitive event over the past few years has been the hammer throw and that looks to be a similar strength this year. A year ago, three student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Regional Preliminary Round in the event, led by senior Brooke Pleger, who placed second at regionals and third at the NCAA Division I Track and Field National Championships. This year, Pleger not only ranks first in the country, but redshirt sophomores Kori Reiser and Kayla Velasquez are sixth and ninth in the MAC, respectively.

HAMMER TIME
Senior Brooke Pleger has been named an NCAA Division I First Team All-American for two consecutive years, finishing seventh in the country in the hammer throw as a redshirt sophomore and then improving to third a year ago. She is the school's all-time record holder in the event and is one of the top 10 collegiate American hammer throwers in the history of the sport. This year, Pleger ranks first in the nation with a throw of 222-feet-4.

MAK ATTACK
Sophomore Makenzie Wheat made a splash as a freshman a year ago, qualifying for the NCAA Regional Preliminary meet in the shot put. Wheat has picked up where she left off, throwing 46-feet-11.75 at the Raleigh Relays in the season-opener. She then set a new personal best with a toss of 49-7 at the Toledo Dual to win the event and followed that up with an identical 49-7 mark at the Tennessee Relays. Wheat currently ranks third in the MAC in the shot put.

STANDING ABOVE THE REST
Senior Brooke Pleger has dominated the Mid-American Conference in the hammer throw during her career, setting a new MAC Championship record with a toss of 216-feet-3 as a sophomore. But she improved upon that a year ago, breaking her own record at the MAC Championships with a distance of 218-9.

Top Hammer Throws In MAC Championship History
Distance	Competitor (School)	Year
218-9	Brooke Pleger (Bowling Green)	2014
216-3	Brooke Pleger (Bowling Green)	2013
214-6	Brittany Funk (Akron)	2013
213-10	Stevi Large (Akron)	2009
206-4	Shant'e White (Buffalo)	2011

#MACtion
Bowling Green scored 60 points at the Mid-American Conference Championships a year ago, the most for the Falcons since 1999. The Falcons just missed a top half finish at the conference standings in seventh place but it was a big step forward from 23 points at the same meet in 2013 and just one point in 2012. Among those who scored points at the MAC Championships a year ago, the Falcons return Brooke Pleger (first in the hammer throw), Kori Reiser (sixth in the hammer throw and sixth in the discus), Andrea Alt (sixth in the 3000 steeplechase), Alicia Arnold (fourth in the long jump), Makenzie Wheat (eighth in the shot put), Natalie Sommerville (fifth in the 400 hurdles) and Tiera Parker (sixth in the triple jump). In total, those student-athletes accounted for 32 of the team's 60 points. On top of that, Kayla Velasquez placed eighth in the discus in 2013 before redshirting a year ago.

MAC RANKINGS
Bowling Green has two student-athletes ranked at the top of the MAC with Brittany Sinclair in the 400 hurdles and Brooke Pleger in the hamer throw. Currently, BGSU is ranked in the top 10 in the conference 22 times and in the top 20 another 14 times. Listed below are all Falcons ranked among the top 20 in the MAC in an event:

100 – 2. Alicia Arnold 11.79, 14. Kera Lamotte 12.23
200 – 5. Alicia Arnold 24.28, 8. Kera Lamotte 24.57, 18. Brittany Sinclair 25.21
400 – 3. Brittany Sinclair 56.21, 8. Taylor Rambo 56.84, 19. Gabrielle Edwards 58.45
1500 – 17. Maria Meredith 4:40.06
5000 – 10. Becca Rae 17:07.60, 16. Andrea Alt 17:43.33
10000 – 3. Mackenzie McMillin 36:14.29
100 hurdles – 20. Demetra Taylor 15.20
400 hurdles – 1. Brittany Sinclair 59.77, 15. Demetra Taylor 1:03.92
3000 steeplechase – 5. Andrea Alt 10:49.90, 9. Becca Rae 11:17.20
400 relay – 3. Bowling Green 46.22
1600 relay – 7. Bowling Green 3:55.50
High jump – 12. Raven Porter 5-4.5, 17. Alicia Arnold 5-2.25, 19. Krystin Reiser 5-1
Long jump – 2. Alicia Arnold 19-0.75, 9. Raven Porter 18-7.25, 18. Sydnee Matthew 17-9.75
Triple jump – 7. Tiera Parker 37-10.75, 8. Kyla Paster 37-9.5, 16. Raven Porter 36-3.5
Shot put – 3. Makenzie Wheat 49-7
Discus – 9. Kori Reiser 149-4, 15. Kayla Velasquez 136-9
Hammer throw – 1. Brooke Pleger 222-4, 6. Kori Reiser 183-4, 9. Kayla Velasquez 178-6
Javelin – 20. Libby Burkhart 104-1
Heptathlon – 5. Krystin Reiser 3,979

REGIONAL RANKINGS
The top 48 individuals in the East region in each event will advance to the NCAA East Region Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Fla. May 28-30. Listed below are all Falcons currently ranked among the top 50 in the East region.

10000 – 41. Mackenzie McMillin 36:14.29
400 hurdles – 23. Brittany Sinclair 59.77
Shot Put – 24. Makenzie Wheat 49-7
Hammer throw – 1. Brooke Pleger 222-4, 33. Kori Reiser 183-4, 46. Kayla Velasquez 178-6

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Brooke Pleger ranks at the top of the national leaders in the hammer throw with a toss of 222-feet-4. Listed below are all Falcons among the top 100 nationally in an event:

10000 – 83. Mackenzie McMillin 36:14.29
400 hurdles – 44. Brittany Sinclair 59.77
Shot Put – 55. Makenzie Wheat 49-7
Hammer throw – 1. Brooke Pleger 222-4, 85. Kori Reiser 183-4

WEEKLY HONORS
Senior Brooke Pleger earned her eighth career Mid-American Conference Field Athlete of the Week award on April 7 after throwing the hammer 222-feet-4 at the Toledo Dual to move into the top spot in the country. Later in the week, she was also named the MAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week. Pleger holds a grade point average of 3.624 in nursing.

PLEGER NOW AMONG THE COLLEGIATE ALL-TIME GREATS
By throwing the hammer 223-feet at the Toledo Invitational last year, Brooke Pleger became one of the 10 greatest American collegiate hammer throwers of all time. She entered the year ranked No. 14 but supplanted Britney Henry, who threw 221-7 for Oregon in 2006, with her toss at Toledo. Including all collegians, Pleger currently ranks No. 18 all-time. Listed below is the entire top 10 list of American collegians:

Top American Collegiate Hammer Throwers
Distance	Name (School)	Date
237-10	Brittany Riley (Southern Illinois)	4/28/07
233-1	Amanda Bingson (UNLV)	5/26/12
231-4	Gwen Berry (Southern Illinois)	4/30/11
229-10	Chelsea Cassulo (Arizona State)	5/23/13
229-9	Loree Smith (Colorado State)	11/30/99
227-8	Jeneva McCall (Southern Illinois)	3/24/12
224-9	Brittany Smith (Illinois State)	6/5/13
224-1	Jessica Pressley (Arizona State)	5/3/08
223-4	Stevi Large (Akron)	6/12/09
223-0	Brooke Pleger (Bowling Green)	5/9/14

THE REGIONAL SCENE
A year ago, five student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Regional Preliminary round across seven different events. Makenzie Wheat (shot put), Brooke Pleger (hammer) and Kori Reiser (discus, hammer) return for the Falcons in 2015. Pleger advanced from the regional preliminary round to the NCAA National Championships, placing third in the hammer throw to earn her second consecutive All-American award.