The BG track team emerged from a weekend of competition at the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championship with an 11th place finish out of 12 teams. As expected, the University of Akron took home top honors; amassing 126 points on their way to first place. The Zips were followed by Kent State with 101 points and Miami with 73. To those who measure success solely by bottom-line statistics, it might appear that the Falcons, with their total of 11 points, should in no way feel pleased with their performance. Coach Cami Wells, however, is not one who subscribes to that line of thinking. ‘I am very pleased with the effort that all 19 of our athletes put forward this weekend,’ Wells said. ‘We had a few girls who had rough weekends, but overall I feel that we competed very hard and gave our best effort.’ While no Falcon athlete finished an event higher than fifth, there were a total of 10 BG women who left Kent with new personal records. One such athlete was Sabrina Forstein, who earned a sixth-place finish in the pole vault with a personal best leap of 12 feet, 1 inch. ‘A personal best was something that Sabrina really wanted and something she tried very hard for,’ Wells said. ‘She had a couple of missed jumps, which I’m sure tired her out, but it was something she was able to overcome.’ For Forstein, a junior from Geneva, Ohio, last weekend’s jump was only the start of what she hopes are bigger and better things. ‘I was definitely very happy that I was able to clear 12 feet,’ Forstein said. ‘I was hoping to break the school indoor record of 12.3 feet, but I definitely think I can approach the outdoor record of 12.6 by the time the Outdoor MAC [Championship] meet rolls around. Overall I can definitely build off of this weekend.’ Another key contributor for the Falcons was senior Kara Butler. She was the only Falcon who scored in two events, placing sixth out of 25 finalists in the 5,000-meter run and eighth out of 32 competitors in the 3,000-meter event. ‘I was very proud of Kara’s performance this weekend,’ Wells said. ‘It is very tough to run both of those long distance events on back-to-back days, and she found a way to do very well in both.’ Butler was as equally pleased as her coach. ‘I am really excited about my performance,’ Butler said. ‘This was the first time I had scored in both the races in the indoor meets. It was tough mentally to race the 3,000 one day after the 5,000, but it was just something I had to fight through.’ Butler is also looking forward to the fast-approaching outdoor season, which gets underway this weekend, because it marks the return of the 10,000-meter run, which is her main event and one she placed seventh in at last year’s MAC Outdoor Championships. ‘The 10,000 is something that I have been looking forward to since last October,’ Butler said. ‘It is really a year-long process to fully prepare myself mentally and physically. I am very excited to get the chance to compete in it once again.’ The only other point-earner for the Falcons was Whitney Hartman, who collected four points with her fifth-place finish in the weight throw. The team will be back in action this weekend when they travel to the University of Notre Dame to compete in the Alex Wilson Invitational.