Falcons Head To Akron For MAC Championships

Friday, February 28

Akron, Ohio

TBA

Bowling Green State University

MAC Indoor Championships

Photo by: Isaiah Vazquez/BGSU Athletics

February 26, 2020 | Women's Track and Field

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

Akron, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University track and field team begins postseason competition this weekend at the Mid-American Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships. This year's meet is hosted by the University of Akron and begins with the pentathlon at 11:20 am Friday. Saturday's competition begins at 1:00 pm.

BGSU is ranked among the top three in four different events and senior Kaila Butler is the top-ranked weight thrower. The Falcons also will be among the favorites in both relays (the 1600 relay and the distance medley relay), and the 400 with No. 3 seed Iyanna Ross.

BGSU will field the maximum of three competitors in multiple events – the 60, 200, weight throw and shot put.

LINKS TO KNOW

BGSU Performance List
BGSU Indoor School Records
MAC Championships Website
Live Results
ESPN3 Friday (3-7 pm)
ESPN3 Saturday (1-6 pm)
Zips Digital Network Friday Morning (Only available in MAC footprint)
Zips Digital Network Friday Afternoon (Only available in MAC footprint)
Zips Digital Network Saturday Morning (Only available in MAC footprint)
Zips Digital Network Saturday Afternoon (Only available in MAC footprint)

MAC INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

FRIDAY
11:20 am - Pentathlon (10. Destiny Fernandes)
3:25 pm - 400 prelims (3. Iyanna Ross, 7. Ryen Draper)
4:00 pm - 60 prelims (7. Savannah Nevels, 10. Jemeila Hunter, 18. Brianna Richard)
4:30 pm - Weight throw (1. Kaila Butler, 11. Daija Young, 12. Kaylia Black)
4:30 pm - Long jump (12. Brianna Richard, 16. Ayanna Burrell)
5:10 pm - 200 prelims (5. Savannah Nevels, 8. Ryen Draper, 9. Jemeila Hunter)
5:45 pm - 5000 (20. Sydney Niekamp)
6:35 pm - Distance Medley Relay (3. Bowling Green)

SATURDAY
1:00 pm - High jump (19. Destiny Fernandes)
1:25 pm - Mile (7. Katerina Shuble, 15. Kailee Perry)
2:00 pm - Triple jump (7. Ayanna Burrell, 11. Brianna Richard)
2:20 pm - 400 finals (3. Iyanna Ross, 7. Ryen Draper)
2:30 pm - Shot put (4. Katie Seyfang, 6. Ebonie Whitted, 16. Daija Young)
2:50 pm - 60 finals (7. Savannah Nevels, 10. Jemeila Hunter, 18. Brianna Richard)
3:30 pm - 200 finals (5. Savannah Nevels, 8. Ryen Draper, 9. Jemeila Hunter)
4:30 pm - 1600 relay (3. Bowling Green)

YOUTH TAKING CHARGE

Senior Kaila Butler is the top seed in the weight throw, but she is the only senior competing for the Falcons in an individual event at the MAC Championships. Of the 23 individual entrants, nine are freshmen, seven are sophomores and six are juniors.

DOING THE HEAVY LIFTING

A number of Falcons will compete in multiple events during the weekend. Freshman Destiny Fernandes will not only compete in the pentathlon, but she has also qualified for the high jump. Junior Ryen Draper will run the 200 and 400, while classmate Savannah Nevels is scheduled to compete in the 60 and 200. Likewise, freshman Jemeila Hunter will also double up in the 60 and 200. Redshirt junior Daija Young will compete in both throws events – the weight throw and the shot put. Sophomores Brianna Richard and Ayanna Burrell have qualified for both the long jump and triple jump, while Richard has a third event as well – the 60.

FALCONS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS

Listed below are all BGSU track and field student-athletes ranked among the top 100 in the country in a particular event.

Distance medley relay – 92. Bowling Green 11:57.46
Shot put – 90. Katie Seyfang 15.17m (49-9.25)
Weight throw – 26. Kaila Butler 20.52m (67-4)

ALREADY IN THE RECORD BOOKS / MORE TO COME

A handful of Falcons have already etched their names in the Bowling Green record books.
Earlier this year at Eastern Michigan's Can Am Classic, sophomore Iyanna Ross ran the 400 in 55.94 seconds, a mark that made her the fourth fastest in school history. Just a few weeks later, she shattered that mark and the school record by running the 400 in 55.39 seconds.
Savannah Nevels ranks as the fifth-fastest woman in school history in the 200 after running a personal best time of 24.56 seconds last week at GVSU's Big Meet.
Iyanna Ross is the school record holder in the 400 at 55.39 seconds. A week later, Ryen Draper ran the distance in 55.70 seconds to place third in school history.
Draper is also the fastest woman in program history in the non-traditional 300. She ran that distance in 39.00 seconds at the BG Opener earlier this year.
Iyanna Ross ranks second all-time in the 300. Her time of 39.80 seconds in the BG Opener in December would have broken the school record if not for Draper's time in the same race.
Redshirt freshman Katerina Shuble ran the mile in 4:54.47 at GVSU's Big Meet earlier this year, a mark that makes her the third-fastest in school history in the event.
Chasatea Brown, Nevels, Ross and Draper broke the school record in the 1600 relay at last year's MAC Championships. They posted a time of 3:45.49. Earlier this year, Draper, Nevels, Jazzlynn Gaiters and Ross ran 3:46.61 for the second-fastest time in school history.
At the Akron Invitational, Kailee Perry, Anna Roach, Trinity Fowler and Katerina Shuble ran the fourth-fastest distance medley relay time in school history at 11:57.46.
Sophomore Ayanna Burrell broke into the top 10 in the triple jump as a freshman a year ago. She leaped 38-feet (11.58m) at Notre Dame's Meyo Invitational to reach seventh in program history.
Redshirt junior Kaila Butler ranks as the fourth-best weight throw competitor in program history. Earlier this year, she threw a personal best 67-feet-4 (20.52m).

POSTSEASON SCORING EXPERIENCE

Bowling Green returns a handful of student-athletes who have scored in the postseason during their careers.
Senior Kaila Butler placed fourth at the MAC Championships in the weight throw a year ago. A second team All-American in the hammer throw during outdoor season, Butler has international experience as a member of Team Canada.
Butler also placed sixth at the MAC Championships in the weight throw as a sophomore in 2018.
BGSU's 1600 relay team placed sixth at the MAC Championships a year ago and all four members of that unit return. Senior Chasatea Brown, juniors Savannah Nevels and Ryen Draper, and sophomore Iyanna Ross make for a strong foundation in the relays.
Draper also earned an eighth place finish at the MAC Championships in the 400 in 2018.
Junior Jessi Lindstrom was a member of the distance medley relay team that finished sixth at the MAC Championships in 2018.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS

For more information on all things BGSU track and field/cross country, follow the Falcons on Twitter (@BGAthletics and @BG_XCTrack) and on Instagram (@BG_XCTrack) as well as on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.