The BG indoor track and field team completed the opening day of the Akron Invitational Friday night.

The Falcons competed with limited members of the team on the first evening of the invitational. The events are split into gold and blue divisions with gold divisions, being the top-ranked athletes entered into each event.

Dana Gates finished sixth out of 10 in the blue division of the long jump with a distance of 17-feet-2.75, exactly two inches shy of her season best. Freshman Jasmine Redman, who competed in the gold division of the 5000, competed in the event for the first time in her career. She finished 11 out of 24 with a time of 18:24.69.

Kayla Velasquez competed in the blue division of the discus and finished third of four females with a distance of 125.

The Falcons made more improvements Saturday as they begin to look forward to the Mid-American Conference Championships.

The most impressive performance came in the 1600 meter relay as Brittany Sinclair, Felicia Jefferson, Demetra Taylor and Allison Weimer finished second with a time of 3:49.24, which was four seconds faster than their previous time as a group.

Tiera Parker ran the 60 for the first time in her career and posted Bowling Green’s best finish (16th) in the event with a time of 7.89 seconds. Berrion Berry finished next for the Falcons in 18th place with a time of 7.95.

In the 200, senior Allison Weimer and freshmen Taylor Rambo set new personal bests as well as finishing in third and fourth place. Weimer ran a time of 25.25 and Rambo was right behind her with a time of 25.27.

Rambo also set a personal best in the 400 with a time of 57.96. Brittany Sinclair finished in front of her in third place with a time of 57.56.

In the weight throw, Brooke Pleger’s unbeaten streak was snapped as she finished fifth with a distance of 60-8.50. But Kayla Velasquez set a personal best behind her with a distance of 53-1.50

“We took positive steps this weekend, particularly in the 4×400 with us only being a second off of the school record,” Head Coach Lou Snelling said. “It was also nice to see progress in the 60, 200, 400 and weight throw. But we have a lot of work to do next weekend if we are to qualify and send an adequate team to the MAC Indoor Championships.”