Falcon Insider with Derek van der Merwe: Nov. 7
11/7/2023
Important news happening in and around Bowling Green Athletics compiled by Director of Athletics Derek van der Merwe. This Falcon Insider shares upcoming dates to remember and news to be aware of in regards to Bowling Green State University Athletics.
Falcon Family:
The fall competitive seasons are beginning to wrap up at Bowling Green State University, and our winter sports are underway.
Thus far, our best finish for our fall sports has been our women’s soccer team finishing the regular season second in the Mid-American Conference. Head Women’s Soccer Coach Jimmy Walker had an outstanding year, leading our program to only one loss in the conference all season. This resilient program had one hard fought battle after the next throughout the year and always came out on top. Our men’s soccer program finished their inaugural season in the Missouri Valley Conference in fourth place. This team faced much adversity throughout the season on and off the pitch. I am very proud of the resiliency of this program this season, and I am thankful for Head Coach Eric Nichols for his outstanding leadership.
Another notable achievement this year was the fourth-place MAC finish of our women’s cross-country team. Head Coach Lou Snelling is building a women’s track and field and cross -country program that is competing at a very high level and continues to improve. Our third-place finish in indoor, fourth-place finish in outdoor, and fourth-place place finish in cross-country is the best overall finishes of this program since 1998. I am excited about the direction of this program.
On Oct. 14 our volleyball head coach Danijela Tomic recorded her 200th win at the helm of the Falcons with a 3-1 triumph over Ohio. My biggest congrats to Coach Tomic and her amazing career at BGSU. Over 130 of her victories at BGSU have come in conference play and at the DI level she has over 360 career wins. We are very fortunate to have Coach Tomic at BGSU. Since she has come to campus in 2012, she has won four regular season conference titles and three MAC Tournament championships, including two of the last three.
Our volleyball program and football programs are still in the hunt for the post season. Be sure to support these programs in coming weeks as they fight to close their season with a critical games, including football’s big rivalry match at home in Doyt Perry Stadium versus the University of Toledo (Nov. 14) in the annual Battle of I-75.
In addition to attending football, you can participate in the inaugural Battle of I-75 Giving Challenge. While most campaigns are about total dollars raised, this campaign is about head count and participation. Who has the strongest fan base? It is a competition where we go head-to-head with our greatest foes to demonstrate that our fan base is the best and the most engaged! Let’s make sure we win on and off the football field against Toledo this year. Help us beat UT with your gift.
If you arrive early on November 14, I encourage you to attend a presentation by Bowling Green State University Hall of Famer and Major League Baseball legend Orel Hershiser. Hershiser will meet with students, faculty and staff from the Schmidthorst College of Business earlier in the day. This will include lunch with faculty and staff, followed by an open forum discussion with students from 2:30-3:30 p.m.
I am happy to report the renovations at Slater Family Ice Arena are scheduled to start this week. While it is inconvenient to start construction in the middle of a season, it is important to keep us on schedule to complete the project before next season. This $5.6 million dollar project will include the creation of a new club area with spectator seating and private suites, the creation of a new entry and renovation of restrooms. This project is important for the growth and success of our hockey program. Starting this weekend, the primary entrance to the Slater Family Ice Arena will be closed. New entry points are being created on the West and Northwest sides of the arena. A Fan Guide for navigating access to the arena can be found by clicking here. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our ticket office at 419-372-0000.
As you look at your winter calendars, I want you to keep a few things in mind. Our gymnastics team is moving all competitions to the Stroh Center this year. This is an important move to support our recruitment efforts of prospective student-athletes and to grow our fan base for this program. Most importantly, this gives gymnastics student-athletes the opportunity to compete in one of our marquee competition venues. The experience of our student-athletes is always our priority. As a result of the change, we will be converting all our gymnastics competitions to ticketed events. Revenue from the tickets will help to offset the costs associated with the venue hosting the event. Please join us this season in supporting our gymnastics program in the Stroh. I assure you that you will enjoy the experience.
This week we kick off the inaugural seasons of Head Women’s Basketball Coach Fred Chmiel and Head Men’s Basketball Coach Todd Simon. Both coaches offer fans and students a unique and high tempo brand of basketball that will get people out of their seats. It is time to join the “Orange Wave” of fans at the Stroh to cheer on these two teams. For the last month, we have been working with our student group “Falcon Fanatics” to get them more engaged in the game day experience. Our student experience continues to be a high priority in all of planning and vision.
Tomorrow, we will have over 40 prospective student-athletes signing National Letters of Intent to attend BGSU from around the country and the world. I encourage you to follow on sports programs social media accounts (list below) tomorrow morning so you can get updates on the new student-athletes who will be joining our programs next year.
BGSU X Accounts
Baseball: bgsu_baseball
Gymnastics: BGSUGymnastics
Ice Hockey: BGSUHKY
Men’s Basketball: BGSUMBB
M/W XC & T&F: BGSUXCTF
Men’s Golf: BGSUMGolf
Men’s Soccer: BGSUMSoccer
Softball: BGSUSoftball
Swim/Dive: BGSU_SwimDive
Tennis: BGSUTennis
Volleyball: BGSUVolleyball
Women’s Basketball: BGSUWBB
Women’s Golf: BGSUWGolf
Women’s Soccer: BGSU_WSoccer
Thank you for all that you do for BGSU. I am excited to see so many of you at our many events this winter. Most importantly, always remember to wear “ORANGE” on Fridays! If you wear orange on a Friday, please make sure to send me a picture of it to athleticsdirector@bgsu.edu. I would love to feature your support of the Falcons on social media or in next month’s Falcon Insider.
Ay Ziggy,
Derek van der Merwe
Director of Athletics
Throughout the remainder of the @BGSUHKY home schedule, exterior construction to the Slater Family Ice Arena will affect various entrances into the venue. This change will be effective starting Friday when St. Thomas comes to town.
— BGSU Athletics (@BGSU_Athletics) November 7, 2023
MORE INFO ??#AyZiggy ????
FIRST QUARTER: @VanFalcon1 is helping us kick off the Battle of I-75 Giving Challenge ????
— BGSU Athletics (@BGSU_Athletics) November 6, 2023
Join the Challenge: https://t.co/Gbk0E76iuF#AyZiggy ???? pic.twitter.com/eazZ3rfMDf
The Flacon Club Winter Sports Luncheon
The Falcon Club Winter Sports Luncheon, in partnership with the BG Chamber of Commerce, will be taking place on November 28th at Stone Ridge Golf Club from 11:45am - 1:15pm.
The luncheon will feature the following speakers:
- Todd Simon, head men's basketball coach
- Fred Chmiel, head women's basketball coach
- Ty Eigner, head hockey coach
- Kerrie Turner, head gymnastics coach
- Rickey Perkings, head swimming and diving coach
- Student-athlete panel
- Derek van der Merwe, director of athletics
Register here
News and Notes
Department
The Falcon Future Kids Club: Membership for the Falcon Future Kids Club for 2023-24 is open. The Future Falcon Kids Club is the official BGSU Athletics fan club for kids. The objective of the Future Falcon Kids Club is to give kids an opportunity to enjoy BGSU athletic programs in a unique way. Sign your child or children up (ages 0-12) for a membership that lasts from August 2023 - July 2024. Membership includes free admission to all regular season home games (excludes any/all conference tournament games or other postseason games) while supplies last for General Admission tickets. For more information, click here.
BGSU Athletics App: The Bowling Green State University athletic department along with partner SIDEARM, launched the BGSU Athletics App. Featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gameday details and more, the new BGSU Athletics app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android devices. Through the app, Falcon fans will enjoy a personalized mobile experience with the ability to manage tickets, shop for official BGSU merchandise and receive breaking news and score notifications for the teams they follow. The app is designed with a user-friendly interface that integrates with BGSUFalcons.com to bring the latest BGSU digital content right to your fingertips. Additionally, it includes links to video and audio streams of live games, in-game stats, and team social media feeds. To download the app to your smartphone or tablet, visit the Apple App Store or Google Play and search for "BGSU Athletics."
…. And so starts the Todd Simon era of basketball at Bowling Green State University! #AyZiggyZoomba @BGSUMBB @BGSU_Athletics @bgsu pic.twitter.com/iKaG8lWjfN
— Derek van der Merwe (@vandermerwe63) November 7, 2023
60 Seconds with the Falcons featuring Salvatore Evola of @BGSUHKY pic.twitter.com/mFBDAa8pSt
— BGSU Athletics (@BGSU_Athletics) November 3, 2023
That first AY ZIGGY of November ??#ToTheMoon ???? pic.twitter.com/3Hl7wpupOK
— BGSU Football (@BG_Football) November 2, 2023
??Kat Mandly, Alex Laboy Earn MAC Weekly Awards
— BGSU Volleyball (@BGSUVolleyball) November 6, 2023
??: https://t.co/9SAkRm2vQH#AyZiggy || #BGVB23 || #BGWarriors || #DreamBig pic.twitter.com/oV3Su691r4
#WakeUpFlying Flying with the Falcons #FalconSky Great Day to be a Falcon! pic.twitter.com/G45Lvhlj2v
— Coach Brian White (@CoachBWhite7) November 6, 2023
Another great Falcon Friday! Always wear orange. @BGSUMBB home opener on Monday. pic.twitter.com/GSHHtSBWxz
— BGSU Athletics (@BGSU_Athletics) November 3, 2023
FOOTBALL
• Bowling Green is No. 1 in the nation in takeaways (22). The Falcons are No. 5 in interceptions (12) and No. 2 in fumble recoveries (10). BGSU is the only team in the nation in the top-10 in both categories.
• CB Jalen Huskey is No. 8 in the nation with four interceptions and DL Dontrez Brown is No. 8 in the nation with two fumble recoveries.
• DL Dontrez Brown has broken up three passes at the line of scrimmage. He is tied for No. 5 in the nation in the category among defensive linemen. He trails only Middle Tennessee’s Quindarius Dunnigan (6), Florida State’s Patrick Payton (5), Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams (4) and Oregon’s Brandon Dorlus (4). Brown is one of 20 defensive linemen with three pass breakups tied for the No. 5 spot.
• Brown had two fumble recoveries against Akron. He is the only player in the nation this year with two fumble recoveries and he is No. 5 overall in the nation in that category for the season.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
• Brynn Gardner and Isabelle Gilmore were named first-team All-MC
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
• Kylee Cubbison named second-team All-MAC at the 2023 Cross Country MAC Championship.
• The team competes this Friday at the Great Lakes Regional in Madison, Wisc.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
• The team competes this Friday at the Great Lakes Regional in Madison, Wisc.
GYMNASTICS
• BGSU announced its 2024 schedule. You can access it by clicking here. The Falcons will contest all meets inside the Stroh Center this year.
BASEBALL
• DJ Newman announced he will be playing in the Cape Cod League next summer. BGSU has now had players in the Cape in back-to-back seasons with Nathan Archer playing there this past summer.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
• The Todd Simon era at Bowling Green began Nov. 6 against Chicago State at the Stroh Center with a 70-41 win.
• BGSU’s game at Akron will be on CBS Sports Network, game moved to Friday night (Jan. 5) at 9 p.m. for MAC doubleheader on the network.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
• The Fred Chmiel era at Bowling Green begins Nov. 7 against Cleveland State at the Stroh Center.
VOLLEYBALL
• Head coach Danijela Tomic tallied her 200th win with Bowling Green with the win over Ohio on Oct. 14.
