Falcons Ready For Final Meet Of Regular Season

Thursday, May 4

Toledo, Ohio

TBA

Bowling Green State University

Toledo Invitational

May 03, 2017 | Women's Track and Field

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

Performance Lists
Live Results

Toledo, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University outdoor track and field team completes the regular season Thursday and Friday at the Toledo Invitational. The Falcons compete in throws Thursday afternoon before taking part in sprints and more field events Friday.

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 TOLEDO INVITATIONAL
Bowling Green will close out the 2017 regular season at the Toledo Invitational. Most throws events take place Thursday afternoon, starting at 1 pm, while the team will get underway Friday at 10:30 am. BGSU's distance runners will not compete but the Falcons will have a variety of student-athletes from all other groupings. The schedule of events and entered competitors are listed below.

Thursday
1 pm – Discus (Aliyah Gustafson, Elizabeth Iversen, Kayla Velasquez, Andrea Weirauch)
3 pm – Shot put (Aliyah Gustafson, Elizabeth Iversen, Makenzie Wheat)
3 pm – Hammer throw; following men (Kaila Butler, Elizabeth Iversen, Kayla Velasquez)

Friday
10:30 am – Javelin; following men (Andrea Weirauch)
11:30 am – Long jump; following men (Raven Porter)
12 pm – High jump (Raven Porter, BeJai Fray)
12:35 pm – 100 hurdles (BeJai Fray)
1 pm – Triple jump; following men (Raven Porter)
1:05 pm – 400 (Mis'cha Sellers, Brianna Tidmore)
2 pm – 100 (Chasatea Brown, Brianna Johnson)
2:20 pm – 800 (Rachel Durbin)
2:45 pm – 400 hurdles (Paige Geatz)
3:10 pm – 200 (Mis'cha Sellers, Chasatea Brown, BeJai Fray, Cortisha Short, Brianna Tidmore, Brianna Johnson)

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

MAC RANKINGS
Following her school-record breaking performance in the 10,000, Rachel Walny ranks second in the Mid-American Conference in the event with a time of 34:02.57. Currently the Falcons are ranked in the top five in the MAC in an event eight times. All Falcons ranked among the top 20 in the MAC are listed below.

100 – t10. Dorresha Green 11.99, t10. Cortisha Short 11.99
200 – 14. Taylor Rambo 24.72
400 – 5. Taylor Rambo 55.34 (AQ)
5000 – 5. Rachel Walny 16:37.18 (AQ), 11. Rebecca Schott 16:59.51
10000 – 2. Rachel Walny 34:02.57, 5. Rebecca Schott 35:00.36, 12. Elena Lancioni 37:06.71
400 relay – 5. Bowling Green 46.28
1600 relay – 9. Bowling Green 3:48.07
High jump – 13. Raven Porter 5-4.25 (1.63m)
Long jump – 7. BeJai Fray 19-5.5 (5.93m) (AQ), 19. Kyla Paster 18-1.5 (5.52m), 20. Raven Porter 18-1 (5.51m)
Triple jump – 14. Kyla Paster 38-3.25 (11.66m)
Shot put – 4. Aliyah Gustafson 51-1.5 (15.58m) (AQ), 6. Makenzie Wheat 49-6.5 (15.10m) (AQ), 8. Elizabeth Iversen 48-8.25 (14.84m) (AQ)
Discus – 7. Elizabeth Iversen 156-5 (47.67m) (AQ), 8. Aliyah Gustafson 154-0 (46.93m), 15. Kayla Velasquez 144-10 (44.16m)
Hammer throw – 4. Kayla Velasquez 189-10 (57.86m) (AQ), 5. Kaila Butler 189-8 (57.81m) (AQ), 7. Elizabeth Iversen 184-8 (56.29m) (AQ)
Heptathlon – 9. BeJai Fray 4,382

REGIONAL RANKINGS
In most events, the top 48 individuals in the region advance to the NCAA East Region Preliminary Round. Currently, four Falcons are inside the cutline and six 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 – 31. Aliyah Gustafson 51-1.5 (15.58m), 43. Makenzie Wheat 49-6.5 (15.10m)
Hammer throw – 48. Kayla Velasquez 189-10 (57.86m), 50. Kaila Butler 189-8 (57.81m)

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 35th-place ranking in the 10,000. Each of those in the top 100 are listed below.

10000 – 35. Rachel Walny 34:02.57, 92. Rebecca Schott 35:00.36
Shot put – 50. Aliyah Gustafson 51-1.5 (15.58m), 77. Makenzie Wheat 49-6.5 (15.10m)
Hammer throw – 90. Kayla Velasquez 189-10 (57.86m), 92. 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 either trying to get an improved mark at the conference level or the East Region, or we are doing a tune-up for the MAC Championships. I'd like to see our throws group move up the region list and I think that would be good for some confidence heading into MAC." – Lou Snelling on the final weekend prior to MAC Championships

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.