BG's Gustafson to compete for national title

3/8/2018

Aliyah Gustafson

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Bowling Green State University’s Aliyah Gustafson will compete in the NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships hosted by Texas A&M University this weekend.

Gustafson is one of 16 athletes who will take part in the shot put competition, which is scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. Friday at Gilliam Indoor Stadium.

While this is the first time Gustafson, a redshirt senior, has thrown at the indoor national meet, she placed 24th in the shot put in the NCAA outdoor event in 2016 to earn honorable mention All-American status.

This season the Iowa City, Iowa, native won the Mid-American Conference title in the shot put with a throw of 16.75 meters (54-feet, 11½ inches). Her qualifying mark of 17.42m (57-2), a school record, ranks eighth among the 16 competitors.

“It’s such a huge accomplishment just to qualify,” BG track coach Lou Snelling said in a release. “Walking away with first-team All-American status (with a top-eight finish) would be a massive accomplishment, but one that’s within reach for her.”

Vicars honored

BOWLING GREEN — BGSU throws coach Derrick Vicars received two honors recently as the Genoa High School graduate was named MAC assistant coach of the year and Great Lakes Region assistant coach of the year.

The second honor was awarded by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Vicars saw his throwers amass 34 points in the MAC championship meet held at BGSU’s Perry Fieldhouse, including Gustafson’s title in the shot put, two second-place efforts, and a fourth as well.

As an athlete, Vicars won Division II national outdoor titles in the discus in 2010 and the shot put in 2012 while at the University of Findlay. In high school Vicars finished third in the Division II discus in 2008 while at Genoa and was third in the D-III shot put while at Delta High School the year before.