The BGSU track team took their highest placing in seven years when they finished seventh in the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track Championships this past week.
Akron won the event with 141 combined points. BG’s 52 points were eight behind sixth place finisher Central Michigan’s 60.
Sophomore Jamie Roflow was the highest placer for the Falcons, finishing second in two events. On Friday she took silver in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and then came back on Saturday to take silver in the 5,000-meter run with a new personal-record of 16:43.54.
“You’re definitely sore the next day, but we took ice baths in the hotel and stretched a lot,” Roflow said. “A lot of people I was going against were in the same situation but some were coming in fresh.”
Three Falcons also earned bronze medals for their efforts in the championships.
Jessica White finished third in the 100-meter dash, and Junior Nicole Standback put up a personal-best time of 14.03 to take bronze in the 100-meter hurdles.
Whitney Hartman, a Bowling Green native, also placed third in a pair of events – discus throw and hammer throw.
Andi Bunko and senior Alyson Lee helped the cause, taking fifth and eighth in the javelin throw, respectively.
Kim Settle set a new personal-record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:05.09, which was good enough for sixth place. Stephanie Hillman also placed in the event, taking eighth after running the 10,000-meter run the previous day.
Rounding out the scoring for the Falcons was the 4×100-meter relay team of White, Standback, Lyndi Springer and Lacey Cochran who took seventh in the event with a season best time of 46.80.
“We knew we had our chances to do well as a team,” Roflow said. “It was definitely a big improvement from indoor season. We were surprised, but we worked hard for it.”
The Falcons took tenth earlier in the year during the indoor championships.
Maybe the most encouraging thing about the team’s finish in the outdoor championships is the fact that only one point (Lee’s eighth place javelin throw finish) came from a senior.
“We don’t lose too many people,” Roflow said. “Out of people who scored, we only lose one.”
Roflow also added that the team is looking forward to an exciting group of incoming freshman.
“I know we’ve got a lot of really good distance runners coming in, and that’s something we haven’t had.”
