The Bowling Green indoor track and field team will compete in the MAC Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend in Michigan. The meet is the fourth Falcon indoor championship under head coach Lou Snelling.
The team has steadily improved in the meet the past three years with Snelling in charge. Three years ago the Falcons scored only one point in the meet and left with a last place finish. In 2013, the team placed eleventh with 12
points scored.
Last year, the Falcons were able to more than triple their point total from the previous year with 38 points and an eighth place finish. Heading into Michigan on Friday, they hope to keep that trend going.
“Just continuing to improve, that’s the big thing,” Snelling said. “Going into the meet there are about five teams that are fairly clumped together. That’s probably going to determine fifth through 10th place. It’s kind of on us in terms of can we step up and have a good meet and put up some more points than we did last year.”
The team will have three competitors who broke four collective school records this year attempting to score points. Senior Brittany Sinclair currently holds the records for both the 300 and 400 with times of 40.67 seconds and 55.46 seconds, respectively. Sophomore Makenzie Wheat now holds the record for the shot put, a record that stood for 21 years, with a mark of 51-feet-4.5.
Senior Brooke Pleger broke her own school record in the weight throw with a mark of 68-feet-2.5.
“They feel pretty good about where their seasons have gone so far,” Snelling said. “I’m definitely excited to see what those three can do this weekend, their confidence has to be high right now.”
For Pleger, this meet also serves as a chance for her to qualify for the NCAA Indoor National Championships, something that no Falcon has done since 2001. Nobody at BGSU has ever done so in the weight throw.
To qualify, Pleger must finish in the top 16. She goes into the meeting with a 14 seed.
“She’s got a good chance. Things are coming together well for her from both a training and competition stand point. There’s a couple girls ahead of her nationally that will be at this meet so this is an opportunity,” Snelling said.
One thing that could potentially play against the Falcons as a whole is the inexperience. The team is still young with underclassmen dominating the roster. There are four seniors and nine juniors on the team compared to 12 sophomores and 13 freshmen.
Four of those freshmen will compete in this meet. Sydnee Matthew will participate in the pentathalon, Cortisha Short in the 200, Dorresha Green in the 60 and Kyla Paster triple jump and long jump.
“This is something we’ve always had to deal with,” Snelling said. “These classes coming in are making more and more of an impact which is phenomenal. We try to cut that freshman learning curve down as much as possible. Where they’re at now versus September is a pretty big difference.”
The preseason polls have the Falcons coming out of the championships
placed tenth.
“We think we’re better than that, but ultimately we have to prove that at the meet. That’s up to us.”
