The Bowling Green State University track and field team opened the season at home on Saturday, competing in the Tom Wright Open held at the Perry Field House on the BGSU campus.
Freshman Bianca Staples started the day with a first place finish in the high jump, reaching an impressive mark of five feet, seven inches in her collegiate debut.
BGSU also had a first-place finish from senior sprinter Jemeila Hunter, who completed the 400 in 58.79 seconds, the lone racer to finish in under a minute.
In the lone relay, the Falcons won the 4×400. The team of DaMya Barker, Darian Braddix, Ashley Kisor, Bianca Staples won in 4:00.93, over six seconds faster than the second-place team.
The Falcons had a pair of freshmen take the top two spots in the triple jump, with Sabrina Imes reaching 12.04 meters and Bianca Staples reaching 11.86 meters.
Freshman Morgan Patterson added a pair of third-place finishes, running the 60m hurdles in 8.97 and reaching a mark of 18-4.50 in the long jump. Her time of 8.77 in the 60 hurdles prelims is the seventh-fastest in program history.
Fellow freshman hurdler DaMya Barker was the runner-up in the 60 hurdles, finishing in 8.89 seconds. Another freshman runner-up was Alexsia Davis, who ran the 200 in 25.73 seconds.
Bowling Green also saw first place finishes in both throwing events, with senior Zaresha Neal winning the shot put and senior Mateya Haintz winning the weight throw.
On Friday, senior Katerina Shuble ran in the three-kilometer run at the GVSU Holiday Open. She ran a PR of 9:36.09, the second-fastest time in program history.
It was less than half a second shy of the school record and gave her a third place finish in Allendale. Darian Braddix had a PR in the 60 meter dash, placing fourth at 7.73 seconds.
“Really positive start to the year across the board in the different event areas,” BGSU coach Lou Snelling said. “Whether it was today or yesterday, just a really positive start to the year.”
The Falcons have over a month off until their next competition, the Falcon Early Bird Open on Jan. 14 at the Perry Field House.
