After Six Weeks Off, Falcons Return To The Track At Michigan

Ann Arbor, Mich. – After more than a month off from competition, the Bowling Green State University indoor track & field team will return to competition Saturday at the Wolverine Invitational, hosted by Michigan. The meet is scheduled to begin at 11 am at U-M Indoor Track Building.

MEET CENTRAL
LIVE RESULTS
LIVE STREAMS

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
The BGSU track and field team can be followed all winter and 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

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Field Events
11:00 am – High jump (Stacey Wolverton)
11:00 am – Shot put (Daija Young, Ebonie Whitted)
11:00 am – Long jump (Ayanna Burrell)
1:30 pm – Weight throw (Kaila Butler, Allie Farmer, Daija Young)
1:30 pm – Triple jump (Ayanna Burrell)

Running Events
11:30 am - 60 (Savannah Nevels, Iyanna Ross, Chasatea Brown)
1:10 pm - 400 (Jazzlynn Gaiters, Brianna Tidmore)
2:10 pm - 200 (Chasatea Brown, Ryen Draper, Mis'cha Sellers)
3:00 pm - 1600 relay (Chasatea Brown, Savannah Nevels, Mis'cha Sellers, Ryen Draper, Jazzlynn Gaiters, Brianna Tidmore)

MAC AUTO BIDS

Bowling Green enters the Wolverine Invitational having earned four Mid-American Conference automatic qualifying bids so far this season.
Aliyah Gustafson and Kaila Butler both earned auto bids in the weight throw with marks of 62-feet-4 and 60-3.75, respectively, at the BG Opener.
Gustafson also picked up an automatic bid in the shot put after winning the BG Opener with a throw of 50-6.25.
Rachel Walny shattered the school record in the 5000 at the GVSU Holiday Open and earned an automatic qualifying bid with a time of 16:26.14.

BGSU IN THE MAC RANKINGS (TOP 20)
60 – 15. Chasatea Brown 7.91
200 – 7. Mis'cha Sellers 25.56#, 10. Ryen Draper 25.93#
400 – 7. Ryen Draper 56.92#, 13. Jazzlynn Gaiters 57.88#, 15. Brianna Tidmore 58.17#
5000 – 3. Rachel Walny 16:26.14, 14. Kelsie Mothersead 19:42.83
High jump – 5. Stacey Wolverton 5-2.5 (1.59m)
Long jump – 9. Ayanna Burrell 17-9 (5.41m)
Triple jump – 2. Ayanna Burrell 37-3 (11.35m)
Shot put – 1. Aliyah Gustafson 50-6.25 (15.40m), 9. Daija Young 39-8 (12.09m)
Weight throw – 1. Aliyah Gustafson 62-4 (19.00m), 3. Kaila Butler 60-3.75 (18.38m), 7. Allie Farmer 56-0 (17.07m), 10. Daija Young 54-6.75 (16.63m)
# - Converted Time

BGSU IN THE NCAA RANKINGS (TOP 100)
400 – 28. Ryen Draper 56.92#, 63. Jazzlynn Gaiters 57.88#, 81. Brianna Tidmore 58.17#
Triple jump – 97. Ayanna Burrell 37-3 (11.35m)
Shot put – 14. Aliyah Gustafson 50-6.25 (15.40m)
Weight throw – 22. Aliyah Gustafson 62-4 (19.00m), 34. Kaila Butler 60-3.75 (18.38m), 74. Allie Farmer 56-0 (17.07m), 100. Daija Young 54-6.75 (16.63m)
# - Converted Time

WALNY TAKES TOP MARK IN 5000

Rachel Walny has chased the school record in the 5000 for much of her career at BGSU and finally broke the record in December at the GVSU Holiday Open.
She ran a time of 16:26.14 to shatter the old school record of 16:40.70, set by Sara Collas in 1986. Her previous best time had been 16:46.27, an improvement of more than 20 seconds.
Walny is also the school record holder in the 10,000 meter distance in outdoor track & field. In cross country, she holds school records at both 5,000 and 6,000 meter distances.

LOOKING BACK TO SEE AHEAD

Bowling Green placed third at the MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships a year ago with 68 points.
It was the top result for the program since the 1999 team won the MAC Championship with 110 points.
The Falcons return student-athletes who accounted for 36.5 points at the MAC Championships, including shot put MAC Champion Aliyah Gustafson, who scored 18 points. Ryen Draper, Rachel Walny, Stacey Wolverton and Kaila Butler also scored at the MAC Championships in individual events. The Falcons return six of the eight legs in the two relay events.

THE ALL-AMERICAN RETURNS

Redshirt senior Aliyah Gustafson was granted a sixth year of eligibility over the summer and returns for her final year of competition.
Gustafson qualified for the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field National Championships a year ago.
A three-time MAC Champion in the shot put, Gustafson has advanced to the outdoor national championships twice as well.
Gustafson is a two-time second team All-American and placed fifth among collegiate competitors at the 2018 USATF Outdoor Championships.
After redshirting as a true freshman in 2014, Gustafson tore her ACL just two meets into the 2015 indoor season. She returned to competition and promptly won the 2016 MAC Outdoor Championship in the shot put.
She placed 24^th at the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Championships and then finished 10^th at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships. She concluded the 2018 season with a 15^th place finish at the outdoor national championships.
Gustafson graduated with a 3.93 grade point average in exercise science and maintains a 4.0 GPA as a master's student in kinesiology.

GUSTAFSON DOMINATES IN COMPETITION

In her indoor track & field career, Aliyah Gustafson has competed in the shot put 27 times. She's earned first place finishes in 12 of those meets and placed in the top three 23 times.
From the beginning of the 2017 season, Gustafson has placed in the top three in the shot put in 16 of her 17 meets. The only time she did not place in the top three was when she finished 10^th at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships.
In the weight throw, Gustafson has five first place finishes in 24 career meets. She's finished in the top three 12 times. She has placed among the top four at a meet in weight throw in 11 consecutive competitions.

SHATTERING RECORDS

Bowling Green returns multiple student-athletes who have already earned spots among the all-time greats in program history.
Sophomore Ryen Draper holds the school record in the non-traditional 300 (39.88 seconds) and ranks fifth in the 400 (56.70 seconds).
Junior Chasatea Brown ranks fourth all-time in the 400 (56.65 seconds).
Redshirt senior Rachel Walny just broke the school record in the 5000 (16:26.14) in December and ranks second all-time in the 3000 (9:43.93)
Redshirt senior Aliyah Gustafson is the school record holder in both the shot put (57-feet-2) and the weight throw (69-3.25). She has the four best shot put performances in program history.
Junior Kaila Butler ranks fifth in school history in the weight throw at 63-3.25.
Brown, Draper, sophomore Savannah Nevels and junior Brianna Tidmore posted the second-fastest time in the 1600 relay in program history at 3:47.06.

QUOTABLE
"A lot of the focus this weekend is seeing where we are right now. This should give us a really good idea of where we can and should go from this point forward. December largely cooperated with us weather-wise, but until we get out there and compete, it's a bit difficult to tell." – Lou Snelling, Head Coach

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Players Mentioned

Chasatea Brown

Ayanna Burrell

Kaila Butler

Ryen Draper

Allie Farmer

Jazzlynn Gaiters

Aliyah Gustafson

Kelsie Mothersead

Savannah Nevels

Iyanna Ross

Mis'cha Sellers

Brianna Tidmore

Rachel Walny

Ebonie Whitted

Stacey Wolverton

Daija Young

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