Falcons Have Sights Set On History At MAC Championships Beginning Friday

Friday, February 24

Ypsilanti, Mich.

TBA

Bowling Green State University

MAC Indoor Championships

Photo by: Larry Clapper

Falcons Have Sights Set On History At MAC Championships Beginning Friday

February 23, 2017 | Women's Track and Field

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

MAC Championship Central
BGSU Performance List
Live Results
Schedule of Events

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University indoor track and field team will compete in the Mid-American Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships Friday and Saturday at Eastern Michigan University. Events begin at 10 am Friday and 11:30 am Saturday.

THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Bowling Green gets things underway at the MAC Championships with an important event early Friday. The Falcons have three of the top six seeds in the shot put, which begins at 10 am. The pentathlon also begins at 10 am with newcomers Chasatea Brown and BeJai Fray both expected to be in contention for a spot on the podium.

The final event Friday will be the distance medley relay at 5:25 pm and the Falcons will pick things back up with the triple jump Saturday at 11:30 am. The final event of the meet is the 1600 relay, which is scheduled for a 4:30 pm start.

FRIDAY, FEB. 24
10:00 am – Shot put (3. Aliyah Gustafson, 4. Makenzie Wheat, 6. Elizabeth Iversen)
10:00 am – Pentathlon (7. Chasatea Brown, 15. BeJai Fray)
2:30 pm – 400 trials (6. Taylor Rambo)
3:05 pm – 60 trials (1. Dorresha Green, 12. Kyla Paster)
4:05 pm – 200 trials (9. Cortisha Short)
4:30 pm – Long jump (14. BeJai Fray, 16. Raven Porter)
4:35 pm – 5000 (5. Rachel Walny, 14. Becca Rae, 15. Rebecca Schott)
5:25 pm – Distance medley relay (12. Bowling Green)

SATURDAY, FEB. 25
11:30 am – Triple jump (8. Kyla Paster)
11:45 am – Weight throw (2. Elizabeth Iversen, 3. Kayla Velasquez, 7. Aliyah Gustafson)
1:30 pm – High jump (13. Raven Porter)
1:30 pm – Mile (19. Rachel Durbin)
2:20 pm – 400 finals
2:50 pm – 60 finals
3:30 pm – 200 finals
3:50 pm – 3000 (8. Rachel Walny)
4:30 pm – 1600 relay (10. Bowling Green)

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
The BGSU track and field team can be followed all winter/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

MAKE HISTORY NOW
Based solely on seeding, the Falcons are projected to score 51 points at the MAC Championships, which would be 12 more than the 39 the team scored a year ago to place eighth. In fact, the program has not reached the 50 point plateau since winning the MAC Championship in 1999 with 110 points.

THE TOP SEED
Dorresha Green is the No. 1 seed in the 60 with a qualifying time of 7.50 seconds this year. Jeanette Pettigrew is the only Falcon to ever win the MAC Championship in the event, doing so in 2014 with a time of 7.53 seconds at the MAC Championships.

THROW DOWN
Bowling Green's relative success at the MAC Championships may come down to the two throws. The Falcons have three of the top six shot putters and three of the top seven weight throw competitors in the MAC. In those two events along, Bowling Green is projected for 30 points. BGSU has had three MAC champions in the shot put (most recently Kerri McClung in 2003) and one weight throw MAC champion (Jessie Rowland in 2011).

IN THEIR OWN WORDS
"The 2017 MAC Championships are hallmarked by opportunity. We just have to continue to do what got us to this point and continue to keep our focus on the controllable." -- Lou Snelling, Head Coach

GUSTAFSON THE NEW SHOT PUT QUEEN; WHEAT STILL PUSHING
Aliyah Gustafson has been dominating the shot put since returning from a knee injury a year ago, winning the event at the MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships and advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. And now she has broken the school record twice in a month. At the Tom Wright Classic, she broke the indoor school record with a throw of 52-feet-10. She followed that up by throwing 53-1.5 at the GVSU Big Meet.

Teammate Makenzie Wheat was the previous school record holder when she threw 52-1 back in 2015. Gustafson's performances, though, have lifted Wheat's results as well. At the GVSU Big Meet, Wheat would have recaptured her own school record when she tossed 53-0.25 if Gustafson hadn't posted her big throw just minutes earlier.

Prior to Wheat breaking the record in 2015, the school record had stood for 21 years since Nikki Lessig threw 51-4.5 in 1994.

Gustafson holds the outdoor shot put school record at 53-0.75, breaking a mark last year that had stood for 11 years. Kerri McClung was the previous record holder at 52-8.25 in 2005.

Gustafson and Wheat hold all of the top five indoor shot put performances in program history and they have combined for seven of the top 10 outdoor performances in BGSU history.

BGSU IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Aliyah Gustafson currently ranks 25th nationally in the shot put, while teammate Makenzie Wheat is just one spot behind in 26th. The top 16 will advance to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships March 10-11 in College Station, Texas. Listed below are the six Falcons ranked among the top 100 nationally in an event.

5000 – 96. Rachel Walny 16:46.27
Shot put – 25. Aliyah Gustafson 53-1.5 (16.19m), 26. Makenzie Wheat 53-0.25 (16.16m), 60. Elizabeth Iversen 50-0.75 (15.26m)
Weight throw – 50. Elizabeth Iversen 63-7.5 (19.39m), 88. Kayla Velasquez 61-2.25 (18.65m)