Seventeen Teams Descend Upon Bowling Green For MAC Track Championships

Bowling Green, Ohio – Bowling Green State University will host the Mid-American Conference Track & Field Championships Friday and Saturday at Perry Field House. Two team championships will be crowned (both men's and women's) with the meet beginning at 10 am both days. Tickets are $15 per day for adults (or $20 for both days), $10 for youth (or $15 for both days), and $5 for students with a Mid-American Conference Institution ID. BGSU students are free with ID.

BUY TICKETS
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
LIVE STREAM (Begins at 2 pm Friday and 11 am Saturday)
LIVE RESULTS
HEAT SHEETS
BGSU INDOOR SCHOOL RECORDS
BGSU PERFORMANCE LIST

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

MAC INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
FRIDAY BGSU SCHEDULE
10:30 am – Pentathlon (3 - BeJai Fray, 4 - Peyton Lee)
12:15 pm – Long jump (9 - Kyla Paster)
2:45 pm – 60 hurdles prelims (7 - Peyton Lee)
3:15 pm – 400 prelims (15 - Chasatea Brown, 16 - Ryen Draper)
3:45 pm – 60 prelims (t9 - Savannah Nevels, t13 - Dorresha Green)
4:30 pm – Weight throw (2 - Elizabeth Iversen, 3 - Aliyah Gustafson, 7 - Kaila Butler)
4:50 pm – 200 prelims (9 - Savannah Nevels, 12 - Cortisha Short)
5:30 pm – 5000 (5 - Rachel Walny, 14 - Elena Lancioni)
6:15 pm – Distance Medley Relay (t7 - BGSU)

SATURDAY BGSU SCHEDULE
11:00 am – High jump (t14 - BeJai Fray, t14 - Stacey Wolverton)
11:00 am – Shot put (1 - Aliyah Gustafson, 2 - Elizabeth Iversen, 12 - Zaresha Neal)
1:30 pm – Triple jump (8 - Kyla Paster)
1:40 pm – Mile (13 - Rachel Durbin, 15 - Jessi Lindstrom)
2:10 pm – 60 hurdles finals (7 - Peyton Lee)
2:35 pm – 400 finals (15 - Chasatea Brown, 16 - Ryen Draper)
3:00 pm – 60 finals (t9 - Savannah Nevels, t13 - Dorresha Green)
3:40 pm – 200 finals (9 - Savannah Nevels, 12 - Cortisha Short)
4:10 pm – 3000 (11 - Rachel Walny)
4:40 pm – 1600 relay (10 - BGSU)

THE COMPUTERS KNOW
Bowling Green began the season ranked No. 104 in the country. Steadily, the Falcons have improved their ranking, peaking at No. 53. Currently ranked No. 55, BGSU has climbed 49 spots since the beginning of the year.

Along with those rankings, BGSU is currently ranks No. 12 in the Great Lakes Region, fourth among all MAC schools.

ELITE THROWERS
Each week, the USTFCCCA ranks each school on an event-by-event basis based on the top four competitors for each team in that event. Bowling Green is ranked third nationally in the weight throw and fourth in the country in the shot put. The Falcons join Minnesota (No. 1 in both events), North Dakota State (No. 2 in shot put, No. 4 in weight throw), Southern Mississippi (No. 8 in shot put, No. 7 in weight throw), Ohio State (No. 7 in shot put, No. 8 in weight throw), Oklahoma (No. 3 in shot put, No. 9 in weight throw) and Cincinnati (No. 5 in shot put, No. 10 in weight throw) as programs ranking in the top 10 nationally in both events.

THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE HERE

BGSU hots three meets in Perry Field House during the indoor season, concluding with the Mid-American Conference Championships this week.
Tickets are on sale now by visiting BGSUFalcons.com/tickets
Bowling Green last hosted the indoor track and field MAC Championships in 2011, placing eighth with 45 team points.
Five men's teams and 12 women's teams will descend on Bowling Green for the MAC Championships.
The Falcons already hosted the BG Opener in December and the Tom Wright Classic in January.

MAC AUTO BIDS

BGSU has earned 11 Mid-American Conference automatic qualifying marks this year, including six in the two throws events.
The Falcons picked up four auto bids in the weight throw. Aliyah Gustafson, Elizabeth Iversen, Kaila Butler and Allie Farmer all earned automatic entry to the MAC Championships.
In the shot put, both Gustafson and Iversen added second automatic bids.
BGSU also earned two automatic qualifying marks in the long jump. Kyla Paster and BeJai Fray both jumped far enough to earn entry to the MAC Championships.
Paster also recorded an automatic qualifying distance in the triple jump with a career-best leap of 38-feet-10.25.
Peyton Lee, a sophomore transfer from Northern Kentucky, has run the 60 hurdles in 8.52 seconds to earn a MAC auto bid.
Rachel Walny, who qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in the 10,000 a year ago, earned an automatic qualifying bid in the 5,000 with a time of 16:49.69.

BGSU IN THE NCAA RANKINGS (TOP 100)
Shot put – 6. Aliyah Gustafson 17.42m (57-2), 18. Elizabeth Iversen 16.74m (54-11.25)
Weight throw – 18. Elizabeth Iversen 20.66m (67-9.5), 34. Aliyah Gustafson 19.92m (65-4.25), 84. Allie Farmer 18.70m (61-4.25), 90. Kaila Butler 18.53m (60-9.5)
Pentathlon – 70. BeJai Fray 3,635, 78. Peyton Lee 3,594

THROW FOR DOUGH

BGSU's throws group, one of the top units in the country, will be relied on to carry a large portion of the team's point total this weekend. The Falcons are projected to score 34 points in the two events.
Aliyah Gustafson and Elizabeth Iversen are the top two seeds in the shot put, while Zaresha Neal sits 12^th.
In the weight throw, Iversen and Gustafson are ranked second and third, with Kaila Butler seeded seventh.

IT WILL BE A LONG, LONG DAY

BeJai Fray and Peyton Lee will compete in the pentathlon Friday, working their way through five events during the day.
Fray is BGSU's current school record holder and the No. 3 seed in the event.
Lee is the No. 4 seed in the event and is second in school history in the pentathlon.
The duo begins with the 60 hurdles at 10:30 am and then will take part in the high jump, shot put, long jump and 800.

FALCON FAST

BGSU's sprinters will compete in prelims Friday, looking to finish among the top eight to qualify for Saturday's finals.
Along with being among the top competitors in the pentathlon, Peyton Lee is seeded seventh in the 60 hurdles.
Freshman Savannah Nevels is just outside of the top eight in a pair of events, ranking ninth in both the 60 and the 200. Cortisha Short is 12^th in the 200 and Dorresha Green is 13^th in the 60. Both have previously qualified for finals at a MAC Championship in sprint events.
In the 400, Chasatea Brown and Ryen Draper are lurking, ranked No. 15 and No. 16, respectively.

GOING THE DISTANCE

A qualifier in the 10,000 for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships a year ago, Rachel Walny has kept a low profile during the indoor season, but will be a factor in both distance events.
Walny is seeded fifth in the 5,000 and is No. 11 in the 3,000.
Elena Lancioni will also look to work her way onto the podium in the 5,000. She is seeded No. 14 in the event.

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU

Rachel Durbin and Jessi Lindstrom will both compete for a podium spot in the mile.
Durbin is the No. 13 seed, while Lindstrom is seeded No. 15.

JUMP AROUND

The Falcons have entrants in all three jumps, with Kyla Paster ranking in the mix to score points in both the long jump and triple jump.
Paster is seeded No. 8 in the triple jump and No. 9 in the long jump
BeJai Fray and Stacey Wolverton are tied for 14^th in the high jump. Fray will also be competing in the pentathlon during the weekend.

A TEAM EFFORT

Bowling Green will attempt to score in both relay events this weekend.
The Falcons have arguably their best distance medley relay team entered in years at the MAC Championships. Although the team has not raced a DMR yet this year, Friday night's finale will provide BGSU with an opportunity to gain points.
The MAC Championships conclude Saturday with the 1600 relay. The Falcons are seeded No. 10 entering the meet.

FALCONS SIGN FIVE

The BGSU cross country and track & field program announced the signing of five high school student-athletes during the early signing 2017-18 early signing period.
The Falcons are excited to welcome Jazzlyn Gaiters (Worthington, Ohio / Thomas Worthington HS), Iyanna Ross (Columbus, Ohio / Pickerington Central HS), Katie Seyfang (Washington Court House, Ohio / Miami Trace HS), Olivia Clymer (White Lake Township, Mich. / White Lake Lakeland HS) and Katerina Shuble (La Porte, Ind. / La Porte HS) to the family.
Gaiters and Ross are sprinters, while Seyfang is a thrower. Clymer is a distance runner who will also compete in cross country and Shuble competes in mid-distance events and will take part in cross country.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH LOU SNELLING

"We've talked about the controllables. Our point total is more controllable than what place we finish. We've talked about scoring the most points in our program since 1999 (when the team won the MAC Championship). There's a lot of paths for us to get there and that's exciting."
"A lot of the success in this meet happens on Friday in terms of establishing momentum. If we can walk away with the point total we want to walk away with and if we can get people into finals, that sets us up and builds into Saturday. There will be a lot of teams tightly bunched and a few points will differentiate a lot of places."
"It's special to host. None of our student-athletes have experienced it before, but our coaching staff has been doing this long enough to know. The support is greater. It's our home. We know the track and the runways. The game just slows down a little bit in general."

GUSTAFSON RAKING IN THE AWARDS

Aliyah Gustafson was named MAC Field Athlete of the Week Jan. 23 after breaking the school's shot put record for the sixth time.
Gustafson was also named the MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Jan. 17 and then again on Feb. 7. Gustafson carries a 4.0 grade point average.

IVERSEN ALSO AWARDED

Elizabeth Iversen has twice been named MAC Field Athlete of the Week.
She was initially recognized as MAC Field Athletic of the Week on Jan. 30 and then added the award a second time this week on Feb. 13.

ALL-ACADEMIC

BGSU's track and field team was named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team for the 2016-17 season, posting a 3.43 combined grade point average.
Current team members Aliyah Gustafson and Rachel Walny, along with graduate Makenzie Wheat, were named USTFCCCA Individual All-Academic award winners.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results