BeJai Fray Breaks Heptathlon School Record On Day Two Of MAC Championships

Friday, May 12

Kalamazoo, Mich.

TBA

Bowling Green State University

MAC Outdoor Championships

BeJai Fray Breaks Heptathlon School Record On Day Two Of MAC Championships

May 12, 2017 | Women's Track and Field

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

Complete Results (.pdf)
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Kalamazoo, Mich. – BeJai Fray broke Bowling Green's school record in the heptathlon and the BGSU track and field team built on a strong opening day at the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, finishing day two of the three-day event in third place. The Falcons have 42 points heading into Saturday's conclusion.

Akron leads the MAC Championships with 50.5 points, followed by Kent State with 49.5. Bowling Green follows with 42 and Miami has 41. Eastern Michigan is fifth with 35.5 and Northern Illinois sits in sixth with 21. Toledo is seventh (20.5 points) followed by Buffalo (17), Central Michigan (15), Ohio (11) and Western Michigan (9).

"We wanted to be at least at 40 points at the end of the day," BGSU Track & Field Coach Lou Snelling said. "So, we'll take 42 and it gives us a shot tomorrow. There were a lot of positives."

Fray positioned herself well on Thursday in the heptathlon, setting three personal bests in the four events competed. She came back on Friday and recorded two more career-bests to shatter the school record. She opened with a long jump mark of 19-1.25 (5.82m) and then threw the javelin 121-3 (36.95m). She closed with a time of 2:30.44 in the 800 to place fourth overall after entering the meet as the No. 8 seed.

Fray's point total of 5,217 shattered the school record of 4,859 points by Becky Barnett in 1997. It also destroyed her personal best total of 4,941 points that she set last year at the Conference USA Championships, when she competed for FIU.

"BeJai didn't just get the school record, she demolished the school record and had a great two days doing it," BGSU Head Coach Lou Snelling said. "With what she did at FIU, we felt she could come in and set the school record but she took an extra step this weekend."

The rest of Bowling Green's points on the day came in the shot put, as the Falcons placed a trio on the podium. Aliyah Gustafson had a new season-best throw of 51-4.5 (15.66m) to place fourth overall. Teammate Makenzie Wheat also had a season-best toss of 50-5.5 (15.38m) to finish right behind in fifth. Elizabeth Iversen was eighth at 48-1.25 (14.66m). Iversen is the first Falcon on the weekend to score points in two events as she also placed seventh in the hammer throw Thursday.

"Scoring in three events is difficult to do in the MAC, particularly in the throws," Snelling said. "I hope Elizabeth has a great day in discus tomorrow and it would be pretty cool for her to score in three events."

The remainder of the day consisted of prelim races to advance to Saturday's finals. Cortisha Short set a new personal best time of 24.40 seconds in the 200 to earn the eighth and last spot into finals Saturday. In fact, she broke into BGSU's all-time top 10 with that race in seventh place.

Taylor Rambo also set a new personal best in the 400, qualifying with the third-fastest time of the prelims at 54.70. That time pushes her to fifth all-time at BGSU in the event.

The Falcons will return to competition Saturday with the triple jump at 11:30 am. BGSU will also compete in the discus, 400 relay, 1600 relay, high jump, 5000 and both the 200 and 400 finals.

MAC Championships
BGSU Results
Heptathlon – 4. BeJai Fray 5,217
100 trials – 12. Cortisha Short 12.10, 13. Dorresha Green 12.11, 19. Chasatea Brown 12.37
200 trials – 8. Cortisha Short 24.40
400 trials – 3. Taylor Rambo 54.70, 20. Brianna Tidmore 58.42
1500 trials – 16. Rachel Durbin 4:44.01
Long jump – 13. Raven Porter 18-8.5 (5.70m), 16. Kyla Paster 18-7.25 (5.67m)
Shot put – 4. Aliyah Gustafson 51-4.5 (15.66m), 5. Makenzie Wheat 50-5.5 (15.38m), 8. Elizabeth Iversen 48-1.25 (14.66m)