Falcons Head To Kent State For MAC Championships

Kent, Ohio – After placing third when hosting the Mid-American Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships a year ago, Bowling Green will travel to Kent State for the 2019 league championship. Aliyah Gustafson enters the MAC Championships as the top seed in both the shot put and the weight throw.

Competition begins with the weight throw Friday at 11:00 am and BGSU will return to action Saturday at noon with the triple jump and shot put.

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
LIVE RESULTS
HEAT SHEETS

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

MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday
11:00 am – Weight throw (1. Aliyah Gustafson, 4. Kaila Butler, 10. Allie Farmer)
2:45 pm – Long jump (18. Ayanna Burrell)
3:40 pm – 400 prelims (17. Chasatea Brown, 20. Ryen Draper)
4:10 pm – 60 prelims (13. Savannah Nevels)
5:25 pm – 200 prelims (11. Savannah Nevels, 17. Ryen Draper)
6:10 pm – 5000 (3. Rachel Walny)
6:55 pm – Distance medley relay (9. BGSU)

Saturday
12:00 pm – Triple jump (13. Ayanna Burrell)
12:00 pm – Shot put (1. Aliyah Gustafson, 9. Ebonie Whitted, 15. Daija Young)
2:30 pm – High jump (15. Stacey Wolverton)
2:30 pm – 400 finals (17. Chasatea Brown, 20. Ryen Draper)
2:55 pm – 60 finals (13. Savannah Nevels)
3:35 pm – 200 finals (11. Savannah Nevels, 17. Ryen Draper)
4:00 pm – 3000 (7. Rachel Walny)
4:40 pm – 1600 relay (6. BGSU)

BGSU IN THE NCAA RANKINGS (TOP 100)
5000 – 64. Rachel Walny 16:26.14
Shot put – 4. Aliyah Gustafson 57-5 (17.50m)
Weight throw – 28. Aliyah Gustafson 67-0.75 (20.44m), 85. Kaila Butler 62-1 (18.92m)

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 31 times. She's earned first place finishes in 16 of those meets and placed in the top three 27 times.
From the beginning of the 2017 season, Gustafson has placed in the top three in the shot put in 20 of her 21 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 eight first-place finishes in 28 career meets. She's finished in the top three 16 times.

GUSTAFSON RAKES IN THE AWARDS

Redshirt senior Aliyah Gustafson has already earned MAC Field Athlete of the Week honors four times, as well as MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors twice, in the 2018-19 season.
Gustafson was named MAC Field Athlete of the Week on Dec. 4 after a strong effort in the first meet of the year.
She followed that up by being named MAC Field Athlete of the Week on Feb. 22 and then was named MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week the next day.
Gustafson made it back-to-back weeks as she was again named MAC Field Athlete of the Week on Feb. 29, as well as MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week.
Gustafson followed with another honor on Feb. 12, being named MAC Field Athlete of the Week after sweeping the shot put and weight throw at the Doug Raymond Invitational.

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-5) and the weight throw (69-3.25). She holds nine of the 10 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
"This weekend, we need to perform at our absolute best as the entire indoor season has led up to this point. The MAC is incredibly close this year and we need to make the most of every opportunity so that we can contend for our best possible placing." – Lou Snelling, Head Coach

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Chasatea Brown

Ayanna Burrell

Kaila Butler

Ryen Draper

Allie Farmer

Aliyah Gustafson

Savannah Nevels

Brianna Tidmore

Rachel Walny

Ebonie Whitted

Stacey Wolverton

Daija Young

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