Tianna Mulligan: A local track star ready to shine in senior season

Sean Connelly, Falcon Media Sports Network

Sean Connelly, Sports Reporter, Falcon Media Sports Network

Tianna Mulligan is a senior sprinter on the BGSU track and field team and has made a name for herself in many ways since coming to BG.

Mulligan has helped the Falcons in multiple ways during her time, running in events such as the 60, 200, 400, and 600 meters dashes.

But being at BG wasn’t the original plan for her when she graduated high school.

Mulligan originally committed and attended Ursuline College in Cleveland, Ohio during her freshman year. She soon realized after being there that it wasn’t the best fit. 

“I just wanted to be closer to home, I wasn’t really having the best timer at Ursuline but I still wanted to run track so I decided I wanted to come back to BG and reach out to (associate) Coach (James) Gildon,” Mulligan said. 

Her experience with being closer to home as she graduated from Perrysburg high school is what ultimately what got Gildon’s attention. 

“When she reached out, we did our research in terms of what she had did her freshman year, and again knowing her a little bit prior to, it was fairly an easy process when she wanted to come back home to BG,” Gildon said. “She has ties to BG with her mom being an alum and her high school coach was also an alum so there’s a lot of familiarity there and she’s been a joy ever since” 

And a joy for the team she has been.

Mulligan held four of the top 200m dash times last winter and has already posted multiple PRs this winter in the 400-meter dash and the 600-meter dash.

And that 600-meter race was a whirl of emotions for her.

It was her first open race since coming back from a hamstring injury, her first time ever running the event, and yet, she posted the fifth fastest time ever in the event. 

“It was just something to try, and for running it for the first time and it being my first open event I wasn’t too mad and I had a lot of fun,” Mulligan said.

While Mulligan looks forward to continuously make an impact on the race track, the relationships she’s made with her teammates and coaches is something that will always stick with her beyond her time at BG 

“I’ve changed a lot as a person, I’ve learned a lot and am still learning,” Mulligan said. “One of the biggest things I’ve learned since coming to BG was patience and I’m still learning that. I’ve definitely become a better person; I wouldn’t be the person I am without coming here.”

Mulligan, like many of her teammates, looks forward to the beginning of outdoor track season.

BGSU track and field is set to start the outdoor season at Miami University for the Blizzard Buster meet on March 17th. 

For more information about Mulligan, visit the athletics webpage.