Aliyah Gustafson

Position:
Throws
Class:
Redshirt Senior
High School:
Iowa City
Hometown:
Iowa City, Iowa

2018-19: (Indoor) First Team All-American after placing seventh at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field National Championships in the shot put … Named the MAC Field Performer of the Year … Four-time MAC Field Athlete of the Week and two-time MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week … MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-MAC ... Qualified for finals of an NCAA National Championship meet for the first time in her career … Threw 56-feet-4 (17.17m) at the national championship … Became the second student-athlete (male or female) in MAC history to win both the shot put and the weight throw during the same year at the MAC Championship … Won the shot put with a throw of 56-6 (17.22) … Set the school record in the shot put with a distance of 57-5 (17.50) at the Can-Am Invitational … Owns the top five shot put performances in program history … Won the shot put in every meet she competed until the national championship … Set a season-best distance in the weight throw at the MAC Championship, winning the event at 67-3.25 (20.50) … Competed in weight throw six times during the season, placing first in five of those meets and second in the other. (Outdoor) Earned her fifth trip to an NCAA National Championship meet and third outdoor appearance, finishing fourth at regionals in the shot put with a distance of 55-feet-3.5 (16.85m) … Went on to earn second team All-American status by placing 10^th at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Championships with a mark of 54-6.75 (16.63m) … MAC Champion in the shot put … Academic All-MAC … Earned a spot on the podium at the MAC Championships in both hammer throw and discus, finishing third in hammer and seventh in discus … Named the MAC Most Outstanding Field Performer at the MAC Championships … First Team All-MAC … Qualified for NCAA Regionals in all three throwing events but only competed in shot put and discus … Threw a season-best 56-7.5 (17.26m) in the shot put at the Virginia Challenge … Won the shot put at Louisville’s Lyles/Wood Invitational and in the Toledo Dual meet … Finished 29^th in the discus at the NCAA East Region preliminary round, up 12 spots from her entry seed, with a distance of 159-7 (48.64m) … Won the discus at Miami’s Blizzard Buster with a season-best throw of 164-6 (50.14m) … In the hammer throw, tossed a season-best 197-0 (60.06m) at Louisville’s Lyles/Wood Invitational … Won the hammer throw in the Toledo Dual meet and placed seconds at Miami’s Blizzard Buster.

2017-18: (Indoor) Second Team All-American … First Team All-MAC … Named MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week twice – once on Jan. 17 and again on Feb. 7 … MAC Field Athlete of the Week on Jan. 23 … School record holder in both the shot put and the weight throw … Placed 10^th at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in the shot put, earning second team All-American recognition … Won the MAC Championship in the shot put and qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships as the No. 8 seed … First BGSU student-athlete to compete at the indoor national championships since 2001 … Never finished lower than third in the shot put prior to the national championships, winning four times … Opened the season by breaking the school record in the shot put at 53-feet-7.75 (16.35m) at the BG Opener … Never threw less than 54-feet the rest of the year … Bumped the school record to 54-3.75 at the Doug Raymond Invite and then to 55-10.5 at the Tom Wright Open … Broke the school record for the final time by throwing 57-2 at the Meyo Invitational … Won the weight throw at the BG Opener with a toss of 62-2.25 (18.95m) to start the season … In total, won the weight throw twice and never finished lower than fourth … Finished second at the MAC Championships and broke the school record in the weight throw at 69-3.25 (21.11m) … Also won the Tom Wright Open in the weight throw. (Outdoor) Second team All-American after placing 15^th at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Championships … Threw 54-feet-0.5 (16.47m) at the National Championships … Academic All-MAC … Most Outstanding Field Performer at the MAC Championships after winning the shot put, placing third in discus and finishing fourth in hammer throw … First Team All-MAC after breaking the school record to win the shot put at 57-5.75 (17.52m) … Won the shot put at every regular season meet she competed in … Also threw discus and hammer for the Falcons, qualifying for the NCAA East Region preliminary meet in both events (along with shot put) … In hammer, threw a personal best at the NCAA regional meet of 197-5 (60.19m) to finish 13^th, just one spot shy of earning a trip to nationals in the event … Won the hammer throw at the Toledo Dual and the Toledo Invitational … Placed fourth in the event at the MAC Championships … In discus, threw a personal best 171-11 (52.42m) to win the Toledo Dual … Also won the discus at the Miami Duals … Placed third at the MAC Championships in the discus … Two-time MAC Field Athlete of the Week.

2016-17: (Indoor) Academic All-MAC … Second team All-MAC … MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week Jan. 25 after breaking the school record in the shot put at the Tom Wright Classic … MAC runner-up in the weight throw and third place finisher in the shot put … School record-holder in the shot put, throwing 53-feet-6.75 at the MAC Championships … Holds four of the five best performances in the shot put in program history … Won the shot put in the Tom Wright Classic, the Golden Flashes Gala, the Doug Raymond Invitational and the BG Opener … Threw the shot put beyond the MAC automatic qualifying mark in every meet she competed, finishing in the top three at each competition … Surprised the field in the weight throw at the MAC Championships with a personal best throw of 62-6.75 to place second … Won the weight throw at the GVSU Big Meet and the Akron Invitational. (Outdoor) CoSIDA Academic All-District and Academic All-MAC … Competed in shot put and discus for the Falcons, earning a spot on the podium on each at the MAC Championships … Finished fourth in the shot put at the MAC Championships, throwing a season-best 51-feet-4.5 (15.66m), the fifth-best performance in BGSU history … Earned a bid to the NCAA East Region Preliminary Round for the second consecutive year in the shot put, finishing 39th with a distance of 48-0 (14.63m) … Won the shot put at the Kip Janvrin Open, the UT Dual and the Toledo Invitational … Threw 51-1.25 at the Jesse Owens Classic, a mark that ranks as the eighth-best performance in school history … Placed seventh at the MAC Championships in discus, throwing 153-11 … Had a career-best discus throw of 154-0 (46.93m) to finish second at the UT Dual … Won the discus at the Kip Janvrin Open and was second at the Toledo Invitational.

2015-16: (Indoor) Academic All-MAC … Threw the shot put and the weight throw for the Falcons, placing fifth at the MAC Championships in the shot put … Team’s top shot putter who recorded MAC automatic qualifying marks each of the seven times she competed … Won the Tom Wright Open with a personal best distance of 51-feet-5 in the shot put … Distance of 50-7.25 was good for fifth in the shot put at the MAC Championships … Also won shot put titles at the GVSU Holiday Open and the BG Opener … Personal best distance in the weight throw was a 56-9.25 at the GVSU Holiday Open, coming up less than two inches shy of a MAC automatic qualifying mark. (Outdoor) Honorable mention All-American … Shot put MAC Champion and NCAA Championships qualifier … First Team All-MAC, MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-MAC … Won the MAC shot put championship by throwing 51-feet-4.5 on her sixth and final attempt to move up from seventh place … Seeded No. 19 at NCAA Regionals but finished 12th, earning a bid to the NCAA Championships … Climbed seven spots by throwing a personal best 52-11 on her second throw and then topped it with a 53-0.75 on her third and final chance … Both of those throws topped the school record of 52-8.25 that had stood for 11 years … Opened the National Championships with a toss of 49-6.25, which would prove to be her best of the day … That mark was the best ever by a BGSU student-athlete at the National Championships and earned a 24^th place finish … During the regular season, threw a season-best 51-11 at the Jesse Owens Classic to place third … Also competed in discus, placing 14^th at the MAC Championships with a throw of 133-7 … Had a personal best discus throw of 144-0 to finish third at the Toledo Dual.

2014-15: (Indoor) Got the season started in promising fashion in both the shot put and weight throw before injury ended her season … Twice reached the MAC automatic qualifying mark in the shot put, tossing the apparatus 47-feet-7.25 to place second at the BG Opener and then setting a career best mark a week later at 49-4.5 at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational to finish third … Her mark of 49-4.5 places her fifth all-time at BGSU in the shot put … Established a career-best mark in the weight throw of 54-8 to end third at the EMU Holiday Classic … Placed second in the weight throw at the BG Opener with a mark of 54-6.5. (Outdoor) Redshirted.

2013-14: (Indoor) Redshirted. (Outdoor) Redshirted.

High School: Placed second in the state in the shot put and fourth in the discus as a senior ... Those results came after placing third in the state in the shot put and second in the discus as a junior ... City High School MVP in field events from 2011-13 ... Team won a state championship in 2011 ... Personal best throw in the shot put of 42-feet-8 and in the discus of 131-4.

Personal: Full name is Aliyah Marie Gustafson ... Born May 3, 1995 ... Daughter of Sara Gustafson ... Plans to study exercise science.

PERSONAL BESTS
Indoor Track and Field
Shot put: 57-5 (17.50), Can-Am International (1/26/19)
Weight throw: 69-3.25 (21.11), MAC Championships (2/23/18)
Outdoor Track and Field
Shot put: 57-5.75 (17.52), MAC Championships (5/11/18)
Discus: 171-11 (52.42), Toledo Dual (4/5/18)
Hammer throw: 197-5 (60.19), NCAA Regionals (5/27/18)