Falcons To Host Toledo Friday In Battle Of I-75

Friday, January 18

Bowling Green, Ohio

5:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Toledo

January 17, 2019 | Women's Track and Field

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

Bowling Green, Ohio – Bowling Green and Toledo once again gear up for the annual Battle of I-75 as the two indoor track & field teams go head-to-head Friday night beginning at 5 pm in Perry Field House. The last two meetings, which have both taken place during outdoor season, came down to the wire. Last year's contest was a 96-96 tie and the 2017 meeting was decided by one point in Toledo's 100-99 victory. Prior to that meet, Bowling Green had won the showdown four straight times.

LIVE RESULTS
2019 PERFORMANCE LIST

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

SENIOR NIGHT
The team will recognize four seniors Friday night, honoring Allie Farmer, Kelsie Mothersead, Rachel Walny and Andrea Weirauch. The four will be honored just prior to the final event of the night.

THE HISTORY OF THE DUAL
Bowling Green leads Toledo 15-5-1 overall in head-to-head dual meets. Since restarting the Battle of I-75 for the 2013 season, the Falcons are 4-1-1 in the series. A year ago, Toledo won the final race of the meet, the 1600 relay, to force a 96-96 tie. Prior to that, the Rockets edged the Falcons 100-99. From 2013-16, Bowling Green won four straight dual meets with Toledo by scores of 111-86, 103-96, 107-75, and 93-90.

SCORING
Individual events will be scored on a 5, 3, 2, 1 basis and relay events will be scored on a 5, 3 basis. Only two individual entries and one relay per team will be scored.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Field Events
5:00 pm – Weight throw (Katelyn King, Kaila Butler, Allie Farmer, Aliyah Gustafson, Daija Young)
5:00 pm – High jump (Ayanna Burrell, Stacey Wolverton)
5:30 pm – Long jump (Ayanna Burrell, Stacey Wolverton)
Triple jump to follow (Ayanna Burrell, Stacey Wolverton)
6:35 pm - Shot put (Ebonie Whitted, Aliyah Gustafson, Andrea Weirauch, Daija Young)

Running Events
6:00 pm – 400 (Chasatea Brown, Ryen Draper, Jazzlynn Gaiters, Brianna Tidmore)
6:10 pm – Mile (Megan Aalberts, Allison Holahan, Jessi Lindstrom)
6:20 pm – 60 (Savannah Nevels, Iyanna Ross, Mis'cha Sellers)
7:20 pm – 800 (Megan Aalberts, Allison Holahan, Lauren Jackson, Jessi Lindstrom)
7:30 pm – 200 (Savannah Nevels, Mis'cha Sellers, Ryen Draper, Iyanna Ross)
7:35 pm – 3000 (Claire Reynolds, Allie Zofkie)
7:50 pm – Senior Night Ceremony
8:00 pm – 1600 relay (Chasatea Brown, Savannah Nevels, Brianna Tidmore, Jazzlynn Gaiters, Ryen Draper, Mis'cha Sellers, Iyanna Ross)

MAC AUTO BIDS

Bowling Green enters the Toledo Dual 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)
200 – 8. Ryen Draper 24.91, 18. Mis'cha Sellers 25.56#
400 – 10. Ryen Draper 56.92#, 17. Jazzlynn Gaiters 57.88#
5000 – 3. Rachel Walny 16:26.14, 14. Kelsie Mothersead 19:42.83
High jump – 7. Stacey Wolverton 5-3 (1.60m)
Long jump – 16. Ayanna Burrell 17-9 (5.41m)
Triple jump – 7. Ayanna Burrell 37-3 (11.35m)
Shot put – 2. Aliyah Gustafson 50-6.25 (15.40m), 7. Ebonie Whitted 46-2.5 (14.08m), 15. Daija Young 41-10.5 (12.76m)
Weight throw – 1. Aliyah Gustafson 62-4 (19.00m), 3. Kaila Butler 61-11.75 (18.89m), 8. Allie Farmer 56-3.75 (17.16m), 11. Daija Young 54-6.75 (16.63m)
# - Converted Time

BGSU IN THE NCAA RANKINGS (TOP 100)
400 – 67. Ryen Draper 56.92#
5000 – 31. Rachel Walny 16:26.14
Triple jump – 97. Ayanna Burrell 37-3 (11.35m)
Shot put – 31. Aliyah Gustafson 50-6.25 (15.40m)
Weight throw – 41. Aliyah Gustafson 62-4 (19.00m), 46. Kaila Butler 60-3.75 (18.38m)
# - 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
"We're looking to build momentum heading into the second half of our season. Being at home and competing against Toledo presents us with a great opportunity to do that." – Lou Snelling, Head Coach