The Bowling Green track and field team continued to build on their momentum in two separate meets this past weekend.
The team was split up into two groups. Distance runners competed in the SPIRE Midwest Indoor meet in Geneva, OH, while throwers and sprinters were sent to the Findlay Open. Between the two meets, there were seven personal bests and an automatic qualification for the Mid-American Conference championship meet.
Senior Brook Pleger and redshirt sophomore’s Kori Reiser and Kayla Velasquez each had a good showing with their throws. Pleger had a throw of 67 feet 8 inches, which moved her up to the 11th best throw in the country. That throw was nearly three inches shy of her personal best 67-10.25.
Reiser had a Mid-American Conference automatic qualifying throw of 58-5.75. That throw was more than five feet past her previous personal best. Velasquez threw a 56-7.5, four inches short of her high mark.
“This was the best field that has been assembled in the country this year,” throws coach Matt Conly said. “It was a great setup for Brooke to have a big meet early in the season and she was able to put together a great series and a big number for January. For Kori, she was able to put together what we have known was there. It’s a meet that she can really build off of and put herself in position to compete for valuable points in a few weeks. Across the board, it was a really good meet for our throws group.”
The sprinters also saw a successful night in the meet. For the 200, Junior Kera Lamotte and freshman Dorresha Green placed first and second, both setting personal bests. Lamotte ran a time of 25.73 seconds and Green ran a 26.10.
Senior Brittany Sinclair ran her fastest 400 of the season with a time of 57.36 seconds to place first in the event. Her time is the sixth best in the MAC this year. She also won the 60 prelims with a 7.87 but did not run the final.
In the triple jump, Sydnee Matthew placed first in her event with a jump of 34 feet 9.5 inches.
At the spire meet, five 5000 runners for the falcons competed and four of them set new
best times.
Junior Becca Rae placed first in the event with a time of 17 minutes 37.36 seconds and redshirt junior Andrea Alt placed second with a time of 17 minutes 42.78 seconds.
The team will now prepare for the Akron Invitational on Friday and are two weeks ago from the MAC championships.
