Falcons Head To MAC Championships At Ball State

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Muncie, Ind. – The Bowling Green State University track and field team will compete at the Mid-American Conference Championships Thursday, Friday and Saturday, hosted by Ball State. The meet begins with the hammer throw Thursday at 10 am, with day two of the heptathlon Friday at 11:30 am and with the triple jump Saturday at 10:30 am. BGSU will look to build upon a seventh-place finish at the meet a year ago.

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 MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
The MAC Championships are a three-day event and will be held this year at Ball State's University Track. The schedule of events listing all BGSU competitors follows:

Thursday, May 14
10 am – Hammer throw (1. Brooke Pleger, 7. Kori Reiser, 8. Kayla Velasquez)
11:30 am – Heptathlon 100 hurdles (11. Krystin Reiser, 12. Sydnee Matthew)
12:10 pm – Heptathlon high jump, shot put, 200
12:30 pm – Javelin (14. Libby Burkhart)
7:30 pm – 10,000 (7. Mackenzie McMillin, 15. Rebecca Schott, 15. Becca Rae)

Friday, May 15
11:30 am – Heptathlon long jump, javelin, 800
1:00 pm – 1,500 trials (15. Maria Meredith)
1:40 pm – 100 hurdles trials (13. Demetra Taylor, 19. Sydnee Matthew)
2:15 pm – 400 trials (8. Brittany Sinclair, 10. Taylor Rambo, 16. Gabrielle Edwards)
2:50 pm – 100 trials (3. Alicia Arnold, 15. Kera Lamotte, 17. Dorresha Green)
4:00 pm – 400 hurdles trials (1. Brittany Sinclair, 20. Connor Kempf)
4:00 pm – Long jump (8. Alicia Arnold, 15. Raven Porter)
4:30 pm – Shot put (4. Makenzie Wheat)
4:40 pm – 200 trials (6. Alicia Arnold, 11. Kera Lamotte)
5:20 pm – 3,000 steeplechase (7. Andrea Alt)

Saturday, May 16
10:30 am – Triple jump (15. Tiera Parker, 16. Kyla Paster)
1:10 pm – 400 relay (2. Brittany Sinclair, Alicia Arnold, Kera Lamotte, Dorresha Green)
1:30 pm – 1,500 final
1:55 pm – 100 hurdles final
2:20 pm – 400 final
2:30 pm – Discus (12. Kori Reiser, 19. Kayla Velasquez)
2:30 pm – High jump (9. Raven Porter)
2:40 pm – 100 final
3:20 pm – 400 hurdles final
3:40 pm – 200 final
4:15 pm – 5,000 final (10. Becca Rae, 11. Mackenzie McMillin, 17. Andrea Alt)
4:50 pm – 1600 relay (6. Gabrielle Edwards, Taylor Rambo, Cortisha Short, Brittany Sinclair)

WHAT ARE THEY SAYING?
"This is the weekend we have had circled on the calendar since last year. We've put in the work, now it's time to step up on the day and perform to our capabilities." -- BGSU Head Coach Lou Snelling

READY FOR A LONG WEEKEND
Senior Krystin Reiser and freshman Sydnee Matthew will both compete in the heptathlon at the MAC Championships, which entails seven events over the first two days of the meet. On top of the heptathlon, Matthew has also qualified to compete in the 100 hurdles. However, they aren't the only Falcons who will be in competition multiple times during the weekend.

Senior Brittany Sinclair and junior Alicia Arnold are both scheduled to compete in four events. Sinclair is the top seed in the 400 hurdles, runs on the second-seeded 400 relay team and is slated to compete in the 400 and the 1600 relay. Arnold will run the 100 and 200 as well as the long jump, while taking part in a leg of that 400 relay squad.

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. In the 400, Sinclair improved her personal best to 55.51 seconds and is currently ranked eighth 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 is seeded seventh for the MAC Championships in the event.

QUADRUPLE THREAT
Alicia Arnold is seeded among the top eight in three individual events as well as being expected to compete on the 400 relay team that is seeded second. She is currently third in the 100, sixth in the 200 and eighth in the long 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 seventh and eighth in the MAC, respectively.

ANOTHER RECORD BITES THE DUST
It seems like redshirt senior Brooke Pleger breaks another record every time she competes. At the Ashland Alumni Open three weeks ago, Pleger broke the MAC record and re-established a new school record with a throw of 225-feet-11. She followed that up by throwing 228-feet, another record, at the Jesse Owens Track Classic the next weekend. Prior to three weeks ago, the MAC record stood at 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 228-feet two weeks ago is almost six feet further than any other student-athlete has thrown this year in Division I. In fact, she has the eight furthest throws in the country. Only Southern Illinois' DeAnna Price breaks into the top 10 throws as she ranks second nationally with a season-best toss of 222-2.

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 tenth among collegiate hammer throwers in the history of the sport. This year, Pleger ranks first in the nation with a MAC record throw of 228-feet.

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 ranks fourth 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. 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. She pushed that to 228-feet last week.

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.

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 – 33. Brittany Sinclair 58.97
Shot put – 26. Makenzie Wheat 50-6
Hammer throw – 1. Brooke Pleger 228-0, 46. Kori Reiser 183-4, 49. Kayla Velasquez 182-8

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Brooke Pleger ranks at the top of the national leaders in the hammer throw with a toss of 228-feet. Listed below are all Falcons among the top 100 nationally in an event:

400 hurdles – 48. Brittany Sinclair 58.97
Shot put – 62. Makenzie Wheat 50-6
Hammer throw – 1. Brooke Pleger 228-0

400 RELAY BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD
Bowling Green showed its depth in the sprints two weeks ago, breaking the school record in the 400 relay and posting the second-best time in the Mid-American Conference this year. Brittany Sinclair, Alicia Arnold, Kera Lamotte and Dorresha Green decimated the previous school record of 46.17 seconds by almost a full half second with a time of 45.72. Sinclair was a member of the previous school record relay team when she ran alongside Jeanette Pettigrew, Felicia Jefferson and Allison Weimer at the 2013 MAC Championships.

WEEKLY HONORS
Senior Brooke Pleger earned her tenth career Mid-American Conference Field Athlete of the Week award two weeks ago after throwing the hammer 228-feet at the Jesse Owens Track Classic to break the MAC and school records. She has also been named the MAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week twice 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 228-feet at the Jesse Owens Track Classic, Brooke Pleger cracked the top 10 collegiate hammer throwers of all time. Listed below is the entire top 10 list of collegians:

Top Collegiate Hammer Throwers
Distance	Name (School)	Date
239-4	Jenny Dahlgren (Georgia)	4/13/07
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
230-7	Julia Ratcliffe (Princeton)	4/19/14
230-3	Eva Orban (USC)	3/14/08
229-10	Chelsea Cassulo (Arizona State)	5/23/13
229-9	Loree Smith (Colorado State)	5/14/05
229-1	Candice Scott (Florida)	4/22/04
228-0	Brooke Pleger (Bowling Green)	5/2/15

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

Rachel Durbin

Gabrielle Edwards

Dorresha Green

Brianna Johnson

Connor Kempf

Kera Lamotte

Elena Lancioni

Sydnee Matthew

Mackenzie McMillin

Maria Meredith

Tiera Parker

Kyla Paster

Brooke Pleger

Raven Porter

Becca Rae

Taylor Rambo

Kori Reiser

Krystin Reiser

Rebecca Schott

Cortisha Short

Brittany Sinclair

Natalie Sommerville

Africa Strodes

Demetra Taylor

Kayla Velasquez

Makenzie Wheat

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