Saturday, May 26
Tampa, Fla.
8:45 AM
Bowling Green State University
vs
NCAA East Region Preliminaries
Aliyah Gustafson Closes Regional Competition With PR In Hammer Throw
May 26, 2018 | Women's Track and Field
Tampa, Fla. – On a week of personal bests and near misses, redshirt senior Aliyah Gustafson closed out the Bowling Green track & field team's performance at the NCAA East Regional Preliminary meet by setting a new PR in the hammer throw and missing out on a trip to the national championship by one spot.
THE HAMMER THROW
QUOTABLE
WRAPPING UP THE WEEK
UP NEXT
THE HAMMER THROW
- Aliyah Gustafson entered the hammer throw seeded No. 35, but she broke 60 meters for the first time in her career by throwing 60.19m (197-feet-5) on her last throw of the competition.
- Competing in the first flight, Gustafson led after the first 16 competitors and sat in second place after 32 of the 48 throwers had finished.
- With the top 16 seeds all in the final flight, Gustafson's distance slowly slid down the leaderboard. However, she remained in 12th place, the final spot to nationals, until Towson's Ksenia Safonova threw 61.71m on the last attempt of the entire competition.
- Gustafson becomes just the second Falcon in program history to break 60 meters in the hammer throw, joining three-time first team All-American Brooke Pleger.
QUOTABLE
- "Aliyah PR'ed in two of her three throws. She looked relaxed today and threw the way we knew should could all year. She's been chasing 60 meters and to break through at this meet feels good." – Throws Coach Derrick Vicars
WRAPPING UP THE WEEK
- As expected, Bowling Green will send two student-athletes to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. Aliyah Gustafson placed third in the shot put and Rachel Walny was fifth in the 10,000. Both will be threats to earn a spot on the podium in Oregon June 7.
- Unexpectedly, the Falcons finished 13th or 14th three times at regionals, just missing out on bids to nationals. On all three occasions, BGSU's student-athletes exceeded their seed by at least 19 spots and earned a personal best to get within striking distance.
- Liz Iversen finished 13th in the shot put Thursday, tying for the final spot but losing out on the tiebreak after entering as the No. 32 seed.
- Iversen was bit with another near-miss Friday, finishing 14th in the discus after being seeded No. 40.
- Saturday was Gustafson's turn. As the No. 35 seed, she placed 13th in the hammer throw, being eliminated by a national championship spot on the final throw of the competition.
- In total, BGSU's student-athletes equaled or exceeded their seed in 5-of-6 events on the week. In head coach Lou Snelling's seven-year tenure, 23-of-26 (88 percent) regional qualifiers have equaled or exceeded their seed at the meet.
UP NEXT
- Rachel Walny and Aliyah Gustafson will both compete at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Championships Thursday, June 7 in Eugene, Ore.
- Gustafson will compete in the shot put in a field of 24 competitors vying for the national championship at 9:10 pm ET (6:10 pm PT) on June 7.
- Walny will run the 10,000 in a field of 24 competitors vying for the national championship at 9:38 pm ET (6:38 pm PT) on June 7.
Players Mentioned
Throws
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
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