Track and field team collectively performs well, continued strong spring season

Aaron Parker and Aaron Parker

The Bowling Green track and field team took down more records and continued a strong season at the Jesse Owens Classic this past weekend.

Redshirt senior Brooke Pleger, who set the Mid-American Conference record just a week ago, broke the record again in the hammer throw with a throw of 228 feet. The mark also breaks her school record, the stadium record at Ohio State and the record for the Jesse Owens Classic.

Pleger has been the clear favorite all season long to win come championship time, as she has thrown further than any other college athlete this year. At the classic, five out of six of her throws were marks that beat every collegian this season.

She holds the top eight throws in the event this season.

In addition to the hammer throw, the team set a record in the 400 relay.

Brittany Sinclair, Alicia Arnold, Kera Lamotte and Dorresha Green took down the school record in the event with a time of 45.72 seconds. The time is almost a half second faster than the previous record that was set in 2013 by Sinclair, Jeanette Pettigrew, Felicia Jefferson and Allison Weimer.

“We needed to take some steps this weekend if we wanted to accomplish our goals at the MAC Championships,” said head coach Lou Snelling. “The girls absolutely did that, bringing home two school records along the way. Now we have to maintain focus and finish preparations for our most important meet of the season.”

In addition to the records, Arnold earned another MAC automatic qualifying mark in the long jump. She earned a season best mark of 19 feet 4 inches and moved to second in the MAC.

Kyla Paster also set a new personal best in the event with a mark of 17 feet 2.75 inches.

Taylor Rambo saw some movement in her conference rankings in the 400, running a time of 55.92 seconds. Her last personal best was set two years ago at the MAC championships with a time of 56.51 seconds. She is now ranked eighth in the MAC for the event.

Sophomore Makenzie Wheat has continued to show promise in the throws section, competing in the shot put for the Falcons. Wheat threw a 50 feet 3.5 inch mark to place third overall at the meet. The throw was the fifth best throw in BGSU history.

The team is now two weekends away from the MAC Championship meet. The Falcons will compete at the Toledo Invitational this Thursday and Friday for their last regular season competition.