For the first time in 26 years and the second time in program history, the Bowling Green Falcons are Mid-American Conference (MAC) champions in women’s indoor track and field.

“This truly was a collective effort,” said BGSU head coach Lou Snelling. “All of our different event groups contributed heavily, and how we supported each other this weekend was really pivotal.” 

Freshman Reese Reaman won MAC Freshman of the Year, while head coach Snelling won his first MAC Coach of the Year honor.

The Falcons have won back-to-back Freshman of the Year honors, with Lexi Panning winning the award this year for cross country.

“A big piece of it is you have to come together, and that’s how you win championships,” Snelling said.

Friday

Setting the tone early for the Falcons, Trista Fintel won the weight throw with a 20.31m toss, a personal record. Her performance makes her one of four Falcons to win the weight throw event. 

As the end of the first day drew near, the distance medley relay (DMR) team of Reaman, Reagan Campbell, Rachael Hoover and Kylee Cubbison broke the MAC Championship record with their time of 11:23.03, narrowly beating their rival Toledo Rockets. The win marks four of the last five DMR titles being won by the Orange and Brown. 

Pentathletes Jenna Lucas and Katherine Mendenhall placed fourth and sixth place, respectively, with their best finishes across the five events being Lucas’ second-place shot put throw and Mendenhall’s tie for first place in the high jump. 

Friday set up the schedule for Saturday as well, with six different Falcons qualifying for event finals on Saturday.  

Kiersten Franklin moved on to the finals for the 60-meter and 200-meter events, finishing third and fourth, respectively. 

DaMya Barker and Morgan Patterson placed fifth and seventh in the 60m hurdles, moving on to finals. 

Three of the four runners from the DMR also moved on to an individual final, with Cubbison placing third in the mile preliminaries and third and fourth place finishes from Reaman and Hoover in the 800-meter. 

At the end of Friday’s competition, Bowling Green sat in third place with 29 points. This mark trailed just Akron’s 30 points and Miami’s 32 points. 

Saturday

Bowling Green stormed ahead on Saturday and never looked back en route to their championship victory.  

Fintel, the previous day’s weight throw champion, propelled the Falcons into first place with her second-place showing in the Shot Put (15.56 meters). 

Once the Falcons held the lead, they never looked back. 

The silencer for the Falcons came from the Triple Jump event, where Bianca Staples and Sabrina Imes went 1-2 to significantly bolster the lead for the Orange and Brown. 

Cubbison added even more points on day two, scoring in the mile and 3000-meter with second and sixth-place finishes, respectively. 

In the sprinting finals, Barker and Patterson took fourth and sixth in the 60-meter hurdles, and Franklin claimed fourth for the 60-meter dash. Franklin also took fourth in the 200-meter, capping off her weekend. 

The 800-meter had two strong places, with Reaman and Hoover taking third and sixth. Reaman joined Franklin, Campbell, and Barker in the 4×400 relay that finished seventh to bookend the Falcons’ victory. 

The final scoring saw the Falcons with 94 points, ahead of Akron’s 79 and 77 points from two-time defending champs Eastern Michigan. 

Next up for the Falcons is the NCAA Indoor Championship in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15.