Falcons' Outdoor Season Continues With Saturday Trip To Athens

The Bowling Green State University track and field team continues their trek through the outdoor season on Saturday (April 9), when they travel to Athens, Ohio for the 2011 Ohio Women's Team Challenge.

The Falcons will attempt to improve upon last year's fourth place finish, in which they earned three event victories and notched ten top-three finishes.  The team will face the same competition as last year -- Mid-American Conference foes Ohio and Toledo, as well as Marshall from Conference USA. 

Among the group of competitiors this weekend will be several Falcons who rank at or near the top of the conference and regional rankings.

In the 100 meter dash, Jeanette Pettigrew posted one of the MAC's best times of the season to date at last weekend's Toledo Collegiate Challenge.  This weekend, she will seek to improve on that 12.03 second mark, which ranks in the top 100 of the NCAA's East region.  Pettigrew will also compete in the 200 meter dash, in which she ranks in the top 15 in the MAC, and the 4x100 meter relay.

Heather Conger will lead a group of 12 BGSU runners in the 800 meter event.  Conger posted a time of 2:14.39 last weekend's Toledo meet, and she ranks in the MAC's top ten for the event.  Fellow senior Autumn Dettmann, whose season-best time of 2:17.39 ranks in the top 20, will also compete for the Orange and Brown.

In field events, Tatijana Jacobson leads all MAC athletes in the high jump.  She earned a mark of 1.70 meters (5-07.00) at the Toledo Collegiate Challenge, and she currently ranks 26th overall in the East region.  The top 48 athletes in each individual event advance to the regional meet in May.

Darlene Anderson (long jump) and Janelle Campbell (triple jump) are also near the top of the MAC lists early in the outdoor season.  Anderson will be joined by Jacobson, Campbell and Rachael Doughty in the long jump.

The Falcons' throwing team is also well-represented in conference and regional lists.  Jessie Rowland and Brooke Pleger each have top-five MAC marks in the hammer throw and also rank in the East region's top 100.  Rowland's 54.28 meter (178-1.00) toss is 30th in the region and would currently qualify her for the regional meet, while Pleger's best throw of 51.76 meters is ranked 56th and has qualified her for the United States' Track and Field Junior National Championships in June.  

Rowland also ranks highly in the East region in the shot put, currently occupying 64th place in the region, while teammate Ashley Harris is 69th.  Each are in the top ten among MAC athletes.  Rowland also places among the MAC's top ten in the javelin, and she's joined in that category by teammate Paige Lane.

A full list of competing athletes can be found HERE.  Please note that the performance list includes Christina Gagliardo and Rochelle Muckensturm as competitors in the pole vault; it has been determined that they will not be competing this weekend.

The schedule of events for Saturday's meet can be found HERE.  Complete results will be posted following the conclusion of the meet.