Track Team Gets MAC Championship Preview This Weekend

AKRON INVITATIONAL

MEET INFORMATION	Friday, Feb. 5 - 3:00 pm Saturday, Feb. 6 - 10:00 am
LOCATION	Akron, Ohio (Stile Athletics Field House)
LIVE STATS	Finish Timing
LIVE VIDEO STREAM	GoZips.com
PERFORMANCE LIST	BGSUFalcons.com

Akron, Ohio – Bowling Green travels to Akron for the two-day Akron Invitational this weekend. The unscored meet begins at 3 pm Friday and continues at 10 am Saturday at The Stile Athletics Field House. The Stile Athletics Field House will be the same facility that hosts the Mid-American Conference Championships Feb. 26-27.

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 @BG_XCTrack
Instagram – BGFalcons and BG_XCTrack
Facebook – BGSU Athletics
YouTube – FalconAthletics
Snapchat – BG_XCTrack

ABOUT THE AKRON INVITATIONAL
The Akron Invitational will feature 20 teams, including Mid-American Conference schools Akron, BGSU, Buffalo, Kent State and Ohio. The meet begins at 3 pm Friday and continues at 10 am Saturday at The Stile Athletics Field House. Many events are broken up into blue (open) and gold (elite) divisions. Bowling Green's expected lineup is listed below with start times.

Friday
5:15 pm – Pentathlon 60 hurdles (Sydnee Matthew)
6 pm – Gold discus (Kori Reiser, Aliyah Gustafson)
6:30 pm – Blue long jump (Raven Porter)

Saturday
10 am – Blue weight throw (Kayla Velasquez, Aliyah Gustafson, Allie Farmer)
11 am – Blue triple jump (Kyla Paster, Africa Strodes)
11:45 am – Blue 60 hurdles prelims (Demetra Taylor, Sydnee Matthew)
               Blue 400 (Gabrielle Edwards, Cheyenne Oswald)
12:45 pm – Blue 60 prelims (Alicia Arnold, Tierra Parker, Dorresha Green)
               Blue 800 (Natalee Cole)
               Blue 200 (Cortisha Short, Brianna Johnson)
3:10 pm – Gold long jump (Jade Nolan, Kyla Paster)
3:10 pm – Gold shot put (Aliyah Gustafson, Makenzie Wheat)
3:10 pm - Gold weight throw (Kori Reiser)
3:45 pm – Gold 60 hurdles finals
4:05 pm – Gold 400 (Taylor Rambo)
4:25 pm – Gold 60 finals
4:30 pm – Gold high jump (Raven Porter)
4:30 pm – Gold triple jump (Tiera Parker)
4:50 pm – Gold 200 (Alicia Arnold, Kera Lamotte)
5:40 pm – Gold 1600 relay (Bowling Green)

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
"This is an important weekend for us as it is one of the last chances for us to compete before the MAC Championships. We need to continue to achieve at a higher level and build on our momentum from earlier in the year. This is also a great opportunity for us to get comfortable with the same facility that will host the conference championships at the end of the month." – BGSU Head Coach Lou Snelling

LAST WEEK'S MEETS
BGSU competed at both the Findlay Classic and the SPIRE Midwest Open Friday and Saturday. On Friday, Kayla Velasquez set a new personal best with a throw of 58-feet-2.5 in the weight throw. On Saturday, Makenzie Wheat threw the shot put 51-1.75, the third-best throw in the MAC this year.

THAT'S SO RAVEN
Bowling Green junior Raven Porter set a new personal best in the high jump at the BG Opener and was named MAC Field Athlete of the Week for the performance. She leaped 5-feet-8.75, a mark that ranks 52nd nationally and is more than two inches higher than her previous best. She currently ranks third in the MAC in the event.

MAC RANKINGS
BGSU freshman Jade Nolan continues to rank first in the MAC in the long jump, but the Falcons also rank highly in the other jumping events. Tiera Parker and Raven Porter are third in the triple jump and high jump, respectively. In fact, the Falcons have earned six MAC auto marks in the jumps and have three of the top seven long jumpers in the league. In total, BGSU has 14 marks among the top 10 in the conference and another 11 among the top 20. Listed below are all student-athletes ranked in the top 20 in the conference in an event.

60 – 5. Alicia Arnold 7.57 (AQ), 11. Tiera Parker 7.68, 13. Dorresha Green 7.70
200 – 5. Alicia Arnold 24.56#, 19. Kera Lamotte 25.16#
400 – 16. Taylor Rambo 57.59#
5,000 – 10. Becca Rae 17:32.59, 15. Mackenzie McMillin 17:42.48, 17. Andrea Alt 17:45.27
1600 relay – 10. Bowling Green 3:56.53#
High jump – 3. Raven Porter 5-8.75 (AQ)
Long jump – 1. Jade Nolan 19-6 (AQ), 4. Alicia Arnold 19-3.25 (AQ), 7. Tiera Parker 18-11.25 (AQ), 11. Kyla Paster 18-8.5
Triple jump – 3. Tiera Parker 39-10 (AQ), 5. Kyla Paster 38-7.5 (AQ), 12. Jade Nolan 37-10.75, 15. Africa Strodes 37-1.75
Shot put – 2. Aliyah Gustafson 51-5 (AQ), 3. Makenzie Wheat 51-1.75 (AQ)
Weight throw – 7. Kori Reiser 58-8.5 (AQ), 9. Kayla Velasquez 58-2.5, 11. Aliyah Gustafson 56-9.25, 14. Allie Farmer 54-8

AQ – Surpassed MAC automatic qualifying mark
# - Converted time

NATIONAL RANKINGS
With a throw of 51-feet-1.75 at the Findlay Classic, Makenzie Wheat climbed to 37th in the country in the shot put. Along with teammate Aliyah Gustafson, who ranks 33rd in the shot put, the Falcons boast two of the top 40 shot putters in the country. Listed below are all six Falcons ranked among the top 100 nationally in an event.

High jump – 52. Raven Porter 5-8.75
Long jump – 64. Jade Nolan 19-6, 86. Alicia Arnold 19-3.25
Triple jump – 81. Tiera Parker 39-10
Shot put – 33. Aliyah Gustafson 51-5, 37. Makenzie Wheat 51-1.75

JUMP AROUND
Across the Mid-American Conference, 23 student-athletes have earned MAC automatic qualifying marks in either the triple jump, long jump or high jump. Six of those marks are held by BGSU student-athletes. The Falcons have three of the top seven long jumpers in the conference (all of which have earned MAC auto marks) and two of the top five triple jumpers. As well, Raven Porter ranks third in the MAC in the high jump. A year ago, the Falcons earned just two top eight finishes at the MAC Championships in the jumping events.

BACK ON TRACK
Aliyah Gustafson was poised to have a breakout year in 2015 before a knee injury early in the indoor season sidelined her. However, she has returned to form in 2016 and has already unleashed the second-longest shot put in program history. Her throw of 51-feet-5 at the Tom Wright Open ranks 33rd nationally and second in the MAC. She also ranks 11th in the conference in the weight throw.

BID CLINCHED
Bowling Green earned six Mid-American Conference automatic qualifying marks in the season opener at Grand Valley State and then added four more at the BG Opener. BGSU then moved the total to a dozen with two more automatic marks at the Tom Wright Open. A year ago, the Falcons did not hit a MAC auto mark in its December meet and had just seven at this same point in the season. In fact, the Falcons hit just 11 MAC auto marks for the entire indoor season in 2015. BGSU already has MAC automatic qualifying marks from three student-athletes in the long jump and two in each of the following events – triple jump, shot put and weight throw.

AGILE AND VERSATILE
Senior Alicia Arnold has proven to be a significant point-scorer at MAC Championship meets, finishing with runner-up finishes in the 200 and 400 relay and a third place finish in the 100 during the 2015 MAC Outdoor Championships. She has potential to pull off a similar feat at the MAC Indoor Championships this year and has already qualified automatically for three events – the long jump, 60 and 200. She ranks among the top five in the conference in all three events.

JADE IS A GEM
While a jade is a gemstone, freshman Jade Nolan has proven to be one of the freshmen gems in the Mid-American Conference in the early-going. Nolan has already met the MAC automatic qualifying standard in the long jump and is close in the triple jump. She ranks first in the MAC and 64th nationally in the long jump.

A VETERAN PRESENCE
A year ago, the Falcons had 26 entrants in individual events at the MAC Championships. Student-athletes who represent 20 of those entries return for the 2015-16 season, as well as three of four runners from the 1600 relay team at the MAC Championships. Returning point scorers include Alicia Arnold (3rd/200; 5th/Long jump; 6th/60), Dorresha Green (5th/60), Raven Porter (7th/High jump), Demetra Taylor (7th/60 hurdles), Kayla Velasquez (7th/Weight throw) and Makenzie Wheat (6th/Shot put).

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Players Mentioned

Andrea Alt

Alicia Arnold

Camerone Bryant

Natalee Cole

Gabrielle Edwards

Allie Farmer

Allison Francis

Dorresha Green

Aliyah Gustafson

Brianna Johnson

Kera Lamotte

Elena Lancioni

Sydnee Matthew

Mackenzie McMillin

Jade Nolan

Cheyenne Oswald

Tiera Parker

Kyla Paster

Raven Porter

Becca Rae

Taylor Rambo

Kori Reiser

Rebecca Schott

Cortisha Short

Africa Strodes

Demetra Taylor

Kayla Velasquez

Makenzie Wheat

Upcoming Events

Recent Results