The Mid-American Conference has announced its end-of-year awards for indoor track and field, with seven Falcons garnering All-MAC accolades.
MAC champions Zaresha Neal and Brianna Richard were named first-team All-MAC, as was the distance medley relay team of Kailee Perry, Darian Braddix, Izzy Best, and Katerina Shuble. Shuble was also named second-team All-MAC and was joined by teammate Katherine Mendenhall.
“This group epitomizes the balance and development focus of our program,” BGSU coach Lou Snelling said. “Major contributions from all event groups led to our team success. It’s rewarding to see another group of Falcons grow into this level of achievement.”
The group of Falcons led BGSU to a third-place team finish, matching the program’s highest since 1999.
Senior Zaresha Neal, a first team selection in the shot put, closed her indoor career with a MAC title in the shot, taking the conference crown for the second consecutive year.
Neal recorded a mark of 55 feet, nine inches (16.99 meters), which was 7-5 (2.26 m) longer than the runner-up and secured 10 team points for the third-place Falcons.
This was Neal’s second-best mark of the season and fourth-best of her career. It ranks 11th in school history, giving her six of the program’s top 14 marks.
Senior Brianna Richard, another first teamer, closed her indoor career with a conference crown by earning first place in the triple jump.
Richard had a personal record of 41-8.75 (12.72 m), which ranks her second in program history. She now has four of the top 10 marks in school history.
This is Richard’s second career MAC crown, with the first being the outdoor triple jump in 2021. Richard also contributed to the team total with a fifth-place finish in the long jump.
Kailee Perry, Darian Braddix, Izzy Best, Katerina Shuble are first team after winning the distance medley relay. It is the third consecutive season that the BGSU DMR team won the conference title with this year’s quartet running the second-best time in program history at 11:33.86.
This was the first time that the group ran the DMR together. Shuble and Perry have raced for all three MAC championship DMR teams, with Braddix competing for the previous two.
Senior Katerina Shuble followed her outstanding anchor leg performance in the DMR with a second-place finish in the mile, racing in 4:54.13.
This time ranks 13th in school history, giving her seven of the top 13 times. This is her highest individual mile finish at the Indoor MAC Championships, adding to previous finishes of third and fourth. She has also run the opening or closing leg for the last three DMR teams, which have all won conference titles.
Junior Katherine Mendenhall closed the MAC championships with her second PR of the weekend, leaping 5-7 (1.70 m) in the high jump to tie for second place.
This is the first career podium performance of Mendenhall’s career. She opened the MAC Championships with a PR in the 60 hurdles, competing for the Falcons in the pentathlon. In the pentathlon high jump, she placed third with a height of 5-6.5 (1.69 m).
The 2023 outdoor season begins on March 17, with the Falcons traveling to Oxford, Ohio, for the Blizzard Buster, hosted by Miami University.
