Rowland Stays Hot As Falcons Feast At All-Ohio Championships

MEET RESULTS - DAY ONE (.html)

Team strengths were displayed on Friday (April 15) in Cincinnati, Ohio as the Bowling Green State University track and field team rose to fourth place out of 13 teams at the 2011 All-Ohio Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons, the throwing team has provided many of the Falcons' best success stories. This truth has been on prominent display over the last few weeks, and the effort has been led by sophomore Jessie Rowland.

Rowland has often made the four throwing events her own personal highlight reel, and this continued on Friday. In the hammer throw, Rowland took second place with a career-best toss of 189-03 (57.69m). She now ranks 15th in the NCAA's East region of Division I, and she is third overall in the Mid-American Conference.

Her progression up the school's all-time hammer throw leaderboard has been steady. Two weeks ago, she was fifth; after last week, she was fourth. Now, Rowland ranks second in BGSU history – only two feet shy of the school record.

Rowland then proceeded to win the javelin throw. She earned a mark of 130-10 (39.88m), and she now ranks fourth in the conference. Rowland also cracks the East's top 100 in the javelin with her most recent throw.

All told, Rowland gathered 18 of the team's 33 points for the day. She was not the only thrower to score. Brooke Pleger nearly matched her career-best and earned three points with a 51.55m-long (169-01) throw. Ashley Harris (hammer), as well as Paige Lane, Anna Pomento, and Meghan Niehaus (javelin), also competed during Friday's events.

Today's runners did not disappoint, either. Barbara Powers, in her senior season, set the school record and earned a MAC-best mark in the 2000-meter steeplechase two weeks ago. On Friday, she moved up to the 3000-meter version and managed to place second overall. In doing so, Powers set a personal-best time of 10:55.99 and won eight points for the team.

Powers' time is a personal record and ranks fifth in school history. It's also the third-best run in the MAC to date. Further, Powers now ranks among the top 60 in the East region.

Friday also provided the team with their first opportunity to compete in the 10,000 meters. Abby Koch produced the Falcons' final four points of the day when she took fifth place. By crossing the finish line in 37:16.74, Koch picked up a top-ten MAC time and came within an eyelash of moving into “qualified” territory for the NCAA regional meet. Koch's time currently ranks 49th in the east; the top 48 are invited to the regional event.

Taylor Stichter and Megan Kelsey also ran the 10K for BGSU.

As a team, the Falcons' 33 points give them fourth place out of 13 teams. However, when restricted to Division I teams only, the Falcons are second out of eight teams – and first among four MAC teams at the meet.

Saturday's action will provide the Falcons with more chances to earn points. The high jump, in which Tatijana Jacobson leads the MAC, is on Saturday's docket. Also on Saturday are the remaining two throwing events, as well as the sprints – the specialty of Jeanette Pettigrew.

Complete results from Saturday's events and a full tournament recap will be available on Saturday night at BGSUFalcons.com.