Falcons Head To Kalamazoo For MAC Championships

Thursday, May 11

Kalamazoo, Mich.

TBA

Bowling Green State University

MAC Outdoor Championships

May 10, 2017 | Women's Track and Field

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

MAC Championship Central
Live Results
BGSU Performance List

Kalamazoo, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University outdoor track and field team heads to the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships this weekend, hosted by Western Michigan University. The Falcons begin competition Thursday with the heptathlon at noon. The meet will continue Friday and Saturday, concluding with the 1600 relay Saturday evening at 5 pm.

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

THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bowling Green will compete at the MAC Championships Thursday through Saturday, hosted by Western Michigan. A complete schedule with BGSU competitors and seeds is listed below.

Thursday
12 pm – Heptathlon (8. BeJai Fray)
4:30 pm – Hammer throw (4. Kayla Velasquez, 5. Kaila Butler, 7. Elizabeth Iversen)
7:30 pm – 10,000 (2. Rachel Walny, 3. Rebecca Schott, 10. Elena Lancioni)

Friday
11 am – Heptathlon
12:50 pm – 1500 trials (18. Rachel Durbin)
2:00 pm – 400 trials (4. Taylor Rambo, 19. Brianna Tidmore)
2:35 pm – 100 trials (8. Cortisha Short, 9. Dorresha Green, 17. Chasatea Brown)
3 pm – Long jump (7. BeJai Fray, 16. Raven Porter, 17. Kyla Paster)
3 pm – Shot put (4. Aliyah Gustafson, 6. Makenzie Wheat, 8. Elizabeth Iversen)
4:25 pm – 200 trials (17. Cortisha Short)

Saturday
11:30 am – Triple jump (14. Kyla Paster)
12 pm – Discus (7. Elizabeth Iversen, 8. Aliyah Gustafson, 15. Kayla Velasquez)
1:10 pm – 400 relay (5. BGSU)
1:30 pm – High jump (16. Raven Porter)
1:35 pm – 1500 finals
2:20 pm – 400 finals
2:40 pm – 100 finals
3:55 pm – 200 finals
4:25 pm – 5000 (5. Rachel Walny, 11. Rebecca Schott, 18. Elena Lancioni)
5:00 pm – 1600 relay (9. BGSU)

MAC AUTO MARKS
Bowling Green earned 10 Mid-American Conference automatic qualifying bids, equaling the team's total for 2016. Elizabeth Iversen earned MAC auto bids in three events this year, doing so in the discus, hammer throw and shot put.

REGIONAL RANKINGS
In most events, the top 48 individuals in the region advance to the NCAA East Region Preliminary Round. Currently, three Falcons are inside the cutline and four are ranked among the top 50 in the region in an event. Redshirt sophomore Rachel Walny leads the way in the 10,000 with a No. 18 ranking. All Falcons ranked among the top 50 in the region are listed below.

10000 – 18. Rachel Walny 34:02.57, 50. Rebecca Schott 35:00.36
Shot put – 33. Aliyah Gustafson 51-1.5 (15.58m), 46. Makenzie Wheat 49-6.5 (15.10m)
Hammer throw – 49. Kayla Velasquez 189-10 (57.86m)

NATIONAL RANKINGS
From the NCAA East Region Preliminary Round, the top 12 finishers will advance to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. Currently, six Falcons rank among the top 100 in the nation in an event, led by Rachel Walny's 36th-place ranking in the 10,000. Each of those in the top 100 are listed below.

10000 – 36. Rachel Walny 34:02.57, 94. Rebecca Schott 35:00.36
Shot put – 52. Aliyah Gustafson 51-1.5 (15.58m), 82. Makenzie Wheat 49-6.5 (15.10m)
Hammer throw – 93. Kayla Velasquez 189-10 (57.86m), 95. Kaila Butler 189-8 (57.81m)

BREAKING DOWN THE WAL(L)-NY
Redshirt sophomore Rachel Walny shattered the school record in the 10,000 earlier this year at the Mt. SAC Relays, completing the event in 34:02.57 despite running the final 8,000 meters of the race by herself. She broke the school record by more than 15 seconds and has virtually locked an NCAA East Region Preliminary Round bid.

WHAT A WEEK WALNY
Along with breaking the school record in the 10,000, Rachel Walny was named both the MAC Track Athlete of the Week and the MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week. Walny maintains a 4.0 grade point average in exercise science. For Walny, it was the second time this spring that she has been named MAC Track Athlete of the Week, having also received the honor on March 28.

THE BUTLER DID IT
Freshman Kaila Butler debuted in the hammer throw at the Raleigh Relays and immediately launched herself into Bowling Green's top 10 record book with a throw of 187-feet-4. She improved upon that at Toledo, breaking the program's freshman record at 189-8. That mark places her fourth all-time at BGSU in the event.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS
"We are going to have to go out there and go after it. We are not as deep, but our front end is a little bit better than the past. It's not about 20 people scoring a couple of points; it's about five people scoring really big points. If we have a great meet, we can score over 60 points, which would be our most since 1999." – BGSU Head Coach Lou Snelling

BUILDING MOMENTUM
BGSU completed the indoor track and field season in late February by placing fourth at the MAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The finish was the team's best result since 1999. That came on the heels of the squad's third place finish at the MAC Cross Country Championships in the fall. A year ago, Bowling Green placed sixth at the MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships and will look to use the momentum from the fall and winter to improve upon that result.