Friday, May 7
Oxford, Ohio
All Day
Bowling Green State University
at
MAC Championships
Track & Field Sets Table For Day Two Surge At MAC Championships
May 07, 2021 | Women's Track and Field
Oxford, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University track and field team scored three points on the opening day of the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships Friday but positioned itself for a big day Saturday with finals qualifiers in multiple events.
Kent State leads with 36 points after the opening day and Central Michigan followed with 33 points. Northern Illinois and host Miami (Ohio) each have 28 points. While BGSU is tied with Ball State with three points, the Falcons sent eight competitors to Saturday's finals, including three of the top nine runners in the 400. BGSU also has a pair of student-athletes among the top five in the heptathlon through four of the seven events.
ON THE PODIUM FOR DAY ONE
QUALIFYING FOR FINALS
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
"We had a lot of good things happen today, but there were some challenges along the way as well. The challenges lost us some team points, but the positives really set us up well for tomorrow. This is the most opportunity BGSU Track & Field has had on a Saturday at a MAC Outdoor Championship in more than 20 years."
LOOKING AHEAD TO SATURDAY
BGSU RESULTS
100 trials – 3. Jemeila Hunter 11.68 (w), 4. Savannah Nevels 11.69 (w), 12. Ayanna Tommy 12.02 (w)
200 trials – 4. Savannah Nevels 24.29, 11. Jemeila Hunter 24.87, 14. Kennedi Gephart 25.32
400 trials – 2. Iyanna Ross 54.84, 5. Ryen Draper 55.44, 9. Jazzlynn Gaiters 55.78
400 hurdles trials – 6. Chasatea Brown 1:01.78, 15. Hannah Shoemaker 1:04.28
1500 trials – 3. Katerina Shuble 4:31.67
3000 steeplechase – 11. Elise Johnson 11:20.96, 18. Kristin Groppe 11:53.61
10000 – 13. Sydney Niekamp 37:08.68
Long jump – 7. Brianna Richard 18-10.5 (5.75m), 14. Izzy Klett 17-6 (5.33) (w)
Javelin – 8. Izzy Klett 122-5 (37.32m)
Heptathlon (4 of 7 events complete) – 4. Katherine Mendenhall 2916, 5. Destiny Fernandes 2890
Kent State leads with 36 points after the opening day and Central Michigan followed with 33 points. Northern Illinois and host Miami (Ohio) each have 28 points. While BGSU is tied with Ball State with three points, the Falcons sent eight competitors to Saturday's finals, including three of the top nine runners in the 400. BGSU also has a pair of student-athletes among the top five in the heptathlon through four of the seven events.
ON THE PODIUM FOR DAY ONE
- BGSU had a pair of point scorer's on the opening day, placing in the top eight of their respective events.
- Brianna Richard, who entered the meet as the No. 8 seed in the long jump, placed seventh with a new wind legal outdoor personal best distance of 18-feet-10.5 (5.75m).
- Freshman Izzy Klett also established a new personal best in the javelin to earn a podium spot. She finished eighth with a distance of 122-5 (37.32m).
QUALIFYING FOR FINALS
- Eight Falcons earned spots in finals on the track Friday, giving themselves a shot at points Saturday.
- In the 400, the Falcons send three runners to the nine-person final as all three set new personal best times. Iyanna Ross recorded the second-fastest time in prelims at 54.84 seconds, while Ryen Draper was fifth at 55.44 seconds. Jazzlynn Gaiters snuck into finals in ninth at 55.78 seconds. With those results, Ross now ranks sixth in school history in the event, Draper is eighth and Gaiters is 10th.
- In the 100, Jemeila Hunter had the third-fastest prelim time at 11.68 seconds and Savannah Nevels was fourth at 11.69 seconds. Both times would have been personal bests but were wind-aided.
- Nevels also earned a spot in the finals in the 200, placing fourth in 24.29 seconds.
- In the 400 hurdles, Chasatea Brown was sixth in the prelims with a season-best time of 1:01.78.
- In the 1500, Katerina Shuble had the third fastest time of the day at 4:31.67 to earn a spot into finals.
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
- Katherine Mendenhall and Destiny Fernandes completed the first day of the heptathlon and have put themselves in scoring position. Mendenhall sits in fourth place with 2,916 points and Fernandes is one spot behind with 2,890 points.
- Ayanna Tommy was seeded No. 15 in the 100 but placed 12th with a wind-aided time of 12.02 seconds. If not for the wind, she would have easily beaten her wind legal PR of 12.36 seconds.
- In the long jump, Izzy Klett leaped 17-6 (5.33). While it was another wind-aided attempt, it would have set her new outdoor PR.
- Freshman Kennedi Gephart set a new personal best in the 200 with a time of 25.32 seconds to place 14th.
- In the 3000 steeplechase, Elise Johnson ran 11:20.96 to place 11th. That time was more than 10 seconds faster than she had previously run.
"We had a lot of good things happen today, but there were some challenges along the way as well. The challenges lost us some team points, but the positives really set us up well for tomorrow. This is the most opportunity BGSU Track & Field has had on a Saturday at a MAC Outdoor Championship in more than 20 years."
LOOKING AHEAD TO SATURDAY
- Bowling Green is set to compete in 12 events Saturday on the final day of the MAC Championships, beginning with the conclusion of the heptathlon at 10:00 am.
- The Falcons will also compete in the shot put, the triple jump, and the discus. As well, BGSU will take part in the 400 relay, the 1600 relay and the 5000. Bowling Green also has competitors in the finals of the 1500, the 400, the 100, the 400 hurdles and the 200.
BGSU RESULTS
100 trials – 3. Jemeila Hunter 11.68 (w), 4. Savannah Nevels 11.69 (w), 12. Ayanna Tommy 12.02 (w)
200 trials – 4. Savannah Nevels 24.29, 11. Jemeila Hunter 24.87, 14. Kennedi Gephart 25.32
400 trials – 2. Iyanna Ross 54.84, 5. Ryen Draper 55.44, 9. Jazzlynn Gaiters 55.78
400 hurdles trials – 6. Chasatea Brown 1:01.78, 15. Hannah Shoemaker 1:04.28
1500 trials – 3. Katerina Shuble 4:31.67
3000 steeplechase – 11. Elise Johnson 11:20.96, 18. Kristin Groppe 11:53.61
10000 – 13. Sydney Niekamp 37:08.68
Long jump – 7. Brianna Richard 18-10.5 (5.75m), 14. Izzy Klett 17-6 (5.33) (w)
Javelin – 8. Izzy Klett 122-5 (37.32m)
Heptathlon (4 of 7 events complete) – 4. Katherine Mendenhall 2916, 5. Destiny Fernandes 2890
Players Mentioned
Multi-Events
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints/Relays
/ Women's Track and Field
Multi
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints/Jumps/Relays
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and FieldBGSU In the Nest : Track and Field
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