Falcons To Compete In Columbus At Jesse Owens Classic

Performance Lists

Columbus, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University track and field team has just two weekends remaining before the Mid-American Conference Championships and the Falcons will compete at the Jesse Owens Classic, hosted by Ohio State, Friday and Saturday.

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 JESSE OWENS CLASSIC
Student-athletes from more the 35 teams are expected to compete Friday and Saturday at the Jesse Owens Classic, hosted by Ohio State University. The meet is held at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

Friday, May 1
2:00 pm – Javelin (Libby Burkhart)
4:30 pm – Discus (Kori Reiser)
6:45 pm – 5000 (Andrea Alt)

Saturday, May 2
10:30 am – Shot put championship (Makenzie Wheat)
11:00 am – Long jump (Raven Porter, Kyla Paster, Alicia Arnold)
12:00 pm – 400 relay (Bowling Green)
12:20 pm – 100 hurdles (Demetra Taylor)
1:20 pm – 400 (Taylor Rambo)
1:40 pm – 100 (Dorresha Green, Brianna Johnson, Kera Lamotte, Cortisha Short)
2:00 pm – High jump (Raven Porter)
2:00 pm – Triple jump (Kyla Paster)
2:55 pm – 400 hurdles (Connor Kempf, Natalie Sommerville)
3:00 pm – Hammer throw championship (Kayla Velasquez, Kori Reiser, Brooke Pleger)
3:15 pm – 200 (Kera Lamotte, Brittany Sinclair, Gabrielle Edwards)
3:55 pm – 1600 relay (Bowling Green)

WHAT ARE THEY SAYING?
"This is our last big weekend to move up all of the lists and finish preparations for the MAC Championships. We need to take advantage of our opportunities." – BGSU Head Coach Lou Snelling

THE COMPUTER RANKINGS
Bowling Green remained No. 14 in the Great Lakes Region this week, according to the computer rankings conducted by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The Falcons are fifth among MAC schools in the region. On a national level, BGSU climbed five spots to peak at No. 53 this week. The Falcons opened the season at No. 63, the team's best preseason ranking since the system was implemented in 2008.

SINCLAIR SIZZLES
Redshirt senior Brittany Sinclair has made a mark for herself in the 400 hurdles and the 400. Sinclair broke the school record in the 400 hurdles at the Virginia Challenge with a time of 58.97 seconds and ranks first in the Mid-American Conference in the event by more than a full second. She is the only MAC student-athlete to run the event in under one minute this year – and she has done so twice. In the 400, Sinclair improved her personal best to 55.51 seconds and is currently ranked fourth in the conference in the event.

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 eighth in the conference in the event.

TRIPLE THREAT
Alicia Arnold posted a leap of 19-feet-0.75 at the Toledo Dual to rank fourth in the MAC in the long jump, less than five inches behind Eastern Michigan's Dace' Dreimane at the top of the league leaderboard. Arnold also ranks third in the 100 and sixth in the 200, giving her three events in which she is in position to score at the MAC Championships.

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 seventh and tenth in the MAC, respectively.

ANOTHER RECORD BITES THE DUST
It seems like redshirt senior Brooke Pleger breaks another record every week as she did at the Ashland Alumni Open this past Friday. Pleger broke the MAC record and re-established a new school record with a throw of 225-feet-11. The surpassed her previous school record of 223-0 and the MAC record of 223-4 set by national champion Stevi Large of Akron in 2009.

DOMINATING ON A NATIONAL SCALE
Redshirt senior Brooke Pleger is not just dominating the MAC in the hammer throw, but the nation as well. Her throw of 225-feet-11 this past weekend is more than five feet further than any other student-athlete has thrown this year in Division I. In fact, she has the five furthest throws in the country and eight of the top 10. Only Southern Illinois' DeAnna Price breaks into the top 10 throws as she ranks second nationally with a season-best toss of 220-8.

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 ranks seventh among American collegian hammer throwers in the history of the sport. This year, Pleger ranks first in the nation with a MAC record throw of 225-feet-11.

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. This year, she has improved almost every competition, opening the year by throwing 46-feet-11.75 at the Raleigh Relays. She then set a new personal best with a toss of 49-7 at the Toledo Dual and had an identical mark at the Tennessee Relays. She pushed that even further by throwing 50-6 at the Ashland Alumni Open to become just the second student-athlete in program history to throw that far. Wheat currently ranks fourth in the MAC in the shot put.

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.

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. She also set the overall MAC record at the Ashland Alumni Open, throwing 225-11 to surpass Stevie Large's record of 223-4, set in 2009.

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 18 times and in the top 20 another 15 times. Listed below are all Falcons ranked among the top 20 in the MAC in an event:

100 – 3. Alicia Arnold 11.79, 17. Kera Lamotte 12.23
200 – 6. Alicia Arnold 24.28, 9. Kera Lamotte 24.57, 20. Brittany Sinclair 25.04
400 – 4. Brittany Sinclair 55.51, 13. Taylor Rambo 56.84, 17. Gabrielle Edwards 57.44
5000 – 12. Becca Rae 17:00.45, 14. Mackenzie McMillin 17:01.39
10000 – 8. Mackenzie McMillin 36:14.29
400 hurdles – 1. Brittany Sinclair 58.97, 19. Demetra Taylor 1:03.92
3000 steeplechase – 7. Andrea Alt 10:45.79, 13. Becca Rae 11:17.20
400 relay – 3. Bowling Green 46.22
1600 relay – 9. Bowling Green 3:55.50
High jump – 8. Raven Porter 5-7, 19. Alicia Arnold 5-2.25
Long jump – 4. Alicia Arnold 19-0.75, 9. Raven Porter 18-7.25
Triple jump – 9. Tiera Parker 37-10.75, 10. Kyla Paster 37-9.5, 20. Raven Porter 36-3.5
Shot put – 4. Makenzie Wheat 50-6
Discus – 12. Kori Reiser 149-4, 18. Kayla Velasquez 136-9
Hammer throw – 1. Brooke Pleger 225-11, 7. Kori Reiser 183-4, 10. Kayla Velasquez 178-6
Javelin – 17. Libby Burkhart 107-7
Heptathlon – 12. Krystin Reiser 3,979, 13. Sydnee Matthew 13. 3,943

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.

400 hurdles – 21. Brittany Sinclair 58.97
Shot put – 23. Makenzie Wheat 50-6
Hammer throw – 1. Brooke Pleger 225-11, 41. Kori Reiser 183-4

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Brooke Pleger ranks at the top of the national leaders in the hammer throw with a toss of 225-feet-11. Listed below are all Falcons among the top 100 nationally in an event:

400 hurdles – 34. Brittany Sinclair 58.97
Shot put – 53. Makenzie Wheat 49-7
Hammer throw – 1. Brooke Pleger 225-11

WEEKLY HONORS
Senior Brooke Pleger earned her ninth career Mid-American Conference Field Athlete of the Week award on April 28 after throwing the hammer 225-feet-11 at the Ashland Alumni Open to break the MAC and school records. She has also been named the MAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week this year. 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. With her toss of 225-11 at the Ashland Alumni Open, she moved up to seventh. 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
225-11	Brooke Pleger (Bowling Green)	4/24/15
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

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.

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Andrea Alt

Alicia Arnold

Libby Burkhart

Gabrielle Edwards

Dorresha Green

Brianna Johnson

Connor Kempf

Kera Lamotte

Sydnee Matthew

Mackenzie McMillin

Tiera Parker

Kyla Paster

Brooke Pleger

Raven Porter

Becca Rae

Taylor Rambo

Kori Reiser

Krystin Reiser

Cortisha Short

Brittany Sinclair

Natalie Sommerville

Demetra Taylor

Kayla Velasquez

Makenzie Wheat

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