Falcons Earn 20 Top-Ten Finishes, Place Fifth At All-Ohio Championships

MEET RESULTS (.htm)

The Bowling Green State University track and field team utilized several outstanding performances, including 15 separate personal records, on their way to a solid fifth-place showing at the 2011 All-Ohio Championships this weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The meet, hosted by the University of Cincinnati, included over a dozen schools from across the state. Four Mid-American Conference schools participated among the total of eight NCAA Division I teams. Between the MAC schools, the Falcons bested Akron by ten points and trailed Ohio by only 2.5. Miami was the top MAC team at the meet.

Bowling Green's total of 72 points came courtesy of 15 different scorers in 12 events. Those scorers managed one event victory, as well as three second-place and two third-place finishes.

As they have in recent weeks, Jessie Rowland and Jeanette Pettigrew led the points charge for  the Orange and Brown.

Rowland scored 18 points, all on Friday, when she set personal records in the javelin and hammer throws. Rowland won the javelin with a mark of 130-10, while she finished second in the hammer throw at 189-03. Her hammer throw mark is second in BGSU history and ranks in the NCAA East Region top 20.

Pettigrew competed in four separate events on Saturday and scored a total of 12 points for the Falcons. She scored four of those points by placing fifth in the 200 meters, thanks to a personal-record run of 24.82 seconds. She earned her best finish at the meet in the 100 meters, when she took third in 12.01 seconds.

Pettigrew also competed in both relay events. The Falcons placed fifth in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays to earn eight total points. She ran the second leg in the 4x100 as the team finished in 48.43 seconds. She then ran the final leg of the 4x400, crossing the finish at the 4:05.14 mark. 

Of BGSU's other 36 points, twenty-four were scored in other running events. In the 10,000 meter event, four Falcons entered and each registered a personal-best time. Friday was the first time that the team has competed in the 10K this year. Abby Koch, whose time was 37:16.74, finished sixth for three points.

Megan Kelsey, Taylor Stichter and Tara Weiss each also earned personal records in the 10K.

Heather Conger continued her recent string of excellent performances in the 800 meters on Saturday. Despite not setting a personal record, as she did last weekend at Ohio University, Conger scored six points by placing third overall as she posted a time of 2:13.36.

In the 1500 meters, Carly Wells and Autumn Dettmann each scored, totaling seven points for Bowling Green. Wells earned fifth place, while Dettmann took sixth, after the pair finished in 4:39.79 and 4:42.69, respectively.

The Falcon total included the eight points Barbara Powers scored, thanks to her second-place finish in the 3000 meter steeplechase. She earned the spot thanks to a personal-best time of 10:55.99. 

Tatijana Jacobson provided the Falcons with their other second-place finish of the weekend thanks to another solid performance in the high jump. Jacobson earned a 5-05 (1.65m) mark, falling just three inches shy of the eventual winner.

Bowling Green's final points were scored by Ashley Harris in the shot put (three, sixth place) and Brooke Pleger in the hammer throw (one, eighth place). Each also posted personal-best marks this weekend; Harris did so in the hammer and discus throws, while Pleger earned hers in the discus.

Also setting personal records on Saturday were Allorian Horne and Felicia Jefferson in the 400 meter dash, as well as Darlene Anderson in the 100 and 400 meter hurdles.

Bowling Green now turns their attention to the Eastern Michigan Twilight meet next weekend. Just four weeks remain before the MAC Outdoor Championships; those take place in DeKalb, Ill. from May 12-14.