Bowling Green State University Women's Track

Snelling has overseen the restoration of four programs and has built a foundation to revive the programs to a championship level of performance that honors the teams rich tradition and history.   When Snelling began at Bowling Green at the beginning of the 2011-12 season, he set in motion a plan to build a new culture within the programs. While redshirting a high number of talented student-athletes, the programs struggled at times to find consistency in competition. But the 2014-15 school year saw each of the four teams reach milestones and individual marks that had not been seen in many years.   In 2014, the womens cross country team climbed to fourth in the conference standings, completing a three-year stretch that saw the program improve eight spots from a 12 th place finish in 2011. It was the best result at the MAC Championships for the program since 2006 and the first time the program had finished in the top half of the league standings in back-to-back years since 1997 and 1998. At the NCAA Regional championship, the team placed 13 th , improving four spots from a year prior and 20 spots from 2011.   The mens cross country program continued to develop in 2014. BGSUs overall average time at the MAC Championship was 26:34, a 27-second improvement over 2013. Six out the eight BG runners, who were all freshmen or redshirt freshmen, set new personal best individual times.   In womens track and field, Snelling has seen his programs make comparably impressive strides. In back-to-back years, the indoor program scored 38 and 35 points at the Mid-American Conference championships, continuing the steady improvement. BGSU scored just 12 points in 2013 and only one point in 2012 when Snelling began the overhaul.   The 2015 outdoor season was also one to be proud of. The Falcons ended just five points shy of a top half finish in the league standings and Brooke Pleger won her third consecutive MAC championship in the hammer throw. Four student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships in five events and Pleger set both a meet and stadium record to earn a third straight trip to the NCAA National Championships. With a third place finish at the NCAA National Championships, she became the first female in BGSU history to become a three-time first team All-American. The Falcons tied for 35 th nationally with six teams points.   In just a short time, Snellings athletes at Bowling Green have begun to receive recognition at a pace that has not been seen in quite some time. In 2013, Jason Salyer became the first Falcon to earn first team all-conference honors in mens cross country since 1999. Jeanette Pettigrew added a first team all-conference medal during the 2014 indoor season and was second team all-conference during the outdoor campaign. Brooke Pleger was a three-time first team all-conference student-athlete for outdoor track and field.   Pleger, in fact, became one of the most decorated athletes in BGSU history. She is the first female in school history to be named a three-time All-American. Following both the 2013 and 2015 track and field season she was named the Mid-American Conferences Field Athlete of the Year. She also earned the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Associations Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year honor in both 2014 and 2105. She was a 10-time MAC Field Athlete of the Week (nine times during the outdoor season and once during indoor).   Pettigrew became the first BGSU sprinter to be honored in more than a decade with a MAC Track Athlete of the Week honor during the 2014 outdoor season.   Snelling himself is no stranger to earning accolades. In November of 2013, he was named to the All-Time Southland Conference Cross Country Honor Roll in recognition of the leagues 50 th anniversary. He was one of eight coaches recognized for their historic contributions to the sport.   While the team has made strides in competition, academic success has not fallen behind. Following the 2014 cross country season, a program record 11 Falcons were named Academic All-MAC (seven women and four men) with six of those being named Distinguished Scholar-Athletes (a MAC-best four from the womens side and two in mens). Following the 2015 indoor season, the program tied for MAC honors with 17 Academic All-MAC award winners. After the outdoor campaign, 17 were again named Academic All-MAC. In total, the track programs earned 13 Distinguished Scholar-Athlete awards (six during indoor and seven during outdoor). Over the course of the past two years, eight of the nine competitors at the NCAA Regional preliminary meet were named USTFCCCA All-Academic.   The womens cross country team earned All-Academic Team honors for the 14 th consecutive season following the 2014 campaign, while the mens cross country team was honored for the fifth consecutive year. The womens track and field team also earned the honor following the 2014 season, marking the eighth consecutive year that they have been recognized.   Pleger was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, earning third team honors in 2014 and second-team laurels in 2015.   Snelling arrived in Bowling Green in 2011 after spending eight seasons at Stephen F. Austin State University, where he served as head coach of the cross country team and assistant coach for the mens and womens track and field programs. While at Stephen F. Austin, Snelling led his athletes to a level of success that rivaled any program in the region. During his tenure, his teams won a combined 15 conference championships, and his athletes won 32 individual Southland Conference crowns. In just the 2010-11 season, his teams won four of six possible championships SFA womens teams won the cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field titles, the first conference sweep in school history. Also making history, the mens track and field team won the SLC outdoor championship for the first time. Snellings athletes completed 221 track and field scoring performances at conference championship meets. They also set 26 separate school records and combined for eight NCAA individual qualifying performances. His athletes were no strangers to honors and awards, either. Snellings runners won six SLC Athlete of the Year awards, four SLC Student-Athlete of the Year awards, and five SLC Freshman of the Year awards. His teams also featured three conference outstanding track performers and a high point scorer from an outdoor conference championship meet. As SFAs cross country coach, Snelling was honored as SLC Coach of the Year six times. In his first season at SFA, Snelling led the womens cross country team to the conference championship and lowest team score in school history (42 points) and then guided the mens squad to a third-place finish at the NCAA regional meet. The finish was the schools best ever and their score was their lowest in team history for a regional meet. The 2005 mens and 2011 womens cross country squads currently hold the school record for lowest point total at a conference championship (28 Men, 34 Women). In 2004 and 2005, he guided Ashley Monteau to SFAs first-ever individual berth in the NCAA Championships; she is the only cross country runner in school history to qualify for the national championship on multiple occasions. Also in this period, track and field distance runner Ana Rodriguez qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 5,000 meters three consecutive years (2003-2005). Only three other women in the country matched that feat in the 5,000 meters during that time frame. Prior to his stint at Stephen F. Austin, Snelling spent three years as a volunteer assistant coach for nationally-ranked mens track and cross country programs at Indiana University. While a Hoosier, he prepared practice and competition schedules for freshmen, facilitated day-to-day responsibilities for the programs, and spent time as recruiting coordinator. During the 2002-03 season, Indianas cross country team ranked in the top 20 nationally and produced two All-Big 10 conference runners. The mens track and field team finished in the top ten during the indoor season, and that team featured the NCAA runner-up in the mile (John Jefferson). Snelling earned a masters degree in public affairs from Indiana in 2003 and a bachelors degree in political science and history from the University of Central Florida in 2000. Snelling competed as a member of the cross country and track teams while an undergraduate student at UCF. As a Golden Knight, he served as captain and won all-conference awards. Snelling is married to the former April Vitori. The couple has two children, Louie and Madie. The family resides in Bowling Green.

Gildon enters his fourth year as an assistant coach for Bowling Green State University. Gildons primary responsibilities include working with the jump, sprint and hurdle groups for Bowling Green Track and Field. Gildon helped develop Jeanette Pettigrew into one of the top sprinters in the Mid-American Conference. Pettigrew earned the MAC title in the 60 during the 2014 indoor season and went on to qualify for the NCAA Regional preliminary meet in both the 100 and the 200 during the 2014 outdoor campaign. Since 2013, Gildon has overseen the development of a strong group for the Falcons. His jumpers, sprinters and hurdlers have recorded 33 performances in indoor and outdoor track and field that rank among the top 10 in program history and 30 of which rank among the top 5. Eight school records have been broken and his unit has earned first team All-MAC recognition and six second team All-MAC honorees, along with Pettigrew as MAC champion. In 2015, Gildons 400 relay team of Brittany Sinclair, Kera Lamotte, Dorresha Green and Alicia Arnold were named second team All-MAC after a runner-up finish at the MAC Outdoor Championships with the second-fastest time in school history. Arnold added a second place finish in the 200 and a third place result in the 100, ranking among the top three in BGSU history in both. Gildons first year at BGSU was one that showed the promise of future success. During the indoor season, the 4x400 relay team broke the school record at the Mid-American Conference Championships to place fourth, while sophomore Brittany Sinclair shocked the field with a sixth place finish in the 400. During the outdoor season, Gildons troops again scored big at the MAC Championships as Jeanette Pettigrew placed sixth in the 100, while both the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams also finished sixth. Freshman Tiera Parker, making her first appearance at the MAC Championships, placed eighth in the triple jump. During the course of the outdoor season, school records fell in both the 400 and 800 relays. Gildon came to Bowling Green from Fort Hays State University where he coached two national champions, nine NCAA All-Americans, 24 national qualifiers, nine conference champions and two ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. Under Gildons tenure, four Fort Hays University records were broken. Along with 19 of his athletes that rank in the top five of various school records, Gildon is responsible for producing the top five women long jumpers in school history, averaging 5.93 meters per jump. Three of Gildons athletes also held the top three womens triple jump records, averaging 12.16 meters. Gildon produced at least one NCAA Division II All-American for four consecutive seasons. During the 2010 indoor season, Gildon coached Darcie Schmitz to a National Championship in the long jump and a runner-up finish in the triple jump. In the 2007-2008 season, Gildon helped coach Bryan Haynes to a National Championship in the 200m (indoors) and also saw him qualify for the 2008 Olympic Trials in the 200m (outdoors) by running 20.69. Prior to arriving at FHSU, Gildon coached at Creighton Prep High School in Omaha, Neb. from 2005-2007. While in charge of the horizontal and vertical jumps, he coached 20 Nebraska State Athletic Association qualifiers and 17 athletes to All-State honors. Gildon competed for Loyola University of Chicago from 2001 to 2004. He ranks in the top 5 in the long Jump and triple Jump both indoors and outdoors. He was also a six-time Horizon League All-Conference performer while competing primarily in the jumps, but also in the short sprints and relays. Gildon completed his masters of science in health and human performance from FHSU in 2009. He graduated from Nebraska-Omaha in 2007 with a bachelors of science degree in exercise science. Gildon now resides in Bowling Green with his wife Jennifer (Faas).

Conly begins his fifth season at Bowling Green State University in 2015-16 as an assistant coach for the womens track and field program, specializing in throws. Conly has proven to be one of the top throws coaches in the country, sending multiple athletes to the NCAA Regional preliminary meet in each of the past two years. In 2014, three Falcons competed in the hammer throw, as well as two in discus and one in shot put. In 2015, BGSU sent competitors in all three events as well. His daily instruction and coaching was instrumental to the development of Brooke Pleger as the first female three-time All-American in program history with back-to-back third place finishes at the NCAA National Championships. Pleger broke the MAC Championship record in the hammer throw three times and finished third at the NCAA National Championships as both a junior and senior, the best finish at the meet by a BGSU womens track and field student-athlete in the history of the program. On top of that, Kori Reiser has advanced to regionals twice in the discus and once in the hammer throw, while Makenzie Wheat has twice qualified for the meet in the shot put. Graduate Tine Perrine advanced to regionals in the hammer throw and discus in 2014. Conly has several years of experience as an assistant and head coach on both the high school and collegiate level and is closely familiar with the Midwestern track and field community. Most recently, Conly served as assistant track coach at West Virginia University from the fall of 2008 through the spring of 2011. While at West Virginia, Conly was part of the 2011 Big East Coaching Staff of the Year. He primarily worked with the womens throws group and also assisted with multi-event athletes. At WVU, Conlys athletes ranked among the best in school history. He guided Terina Miller to school records in the weight and hammer throws and coached the top two weight and hammer throwers in school history. He also coached the number two and three discus throwers ever to compete at WVU. Conlys multi-sport athletes were also high achievers. Chelsea Carrier earned NCAA Indoor All-American honors in 2010 and 2011 for the pentathlon and 2011 NCAA Outdoor All-American honors for the heptathlon. She set school records in both events and won the Big East championship in the pentathlon. Conly also coached Katelyn Williams, who finished third in the Big East in the heptathlon in 2011. Conly designed and implemented a day-to-day training program for his throwers. He also worked with strength and conditioning staff members to design weight programs. He also assisted with recruiting, team travel and other team management. Prior to his stint at West Virginia, Conly was the head boys track coach at New Castle Chrysler High School in New Castle, Ind. from Jan. 2006 to June 2008. As head coach, Conly instructed his athletes in all events and developed training and practice schedules, as well as workout regimens, for 30-40 athletes. He organized meets with other schools and managed all day-to-day responsibilities associated with the program. His teams placed second twice in Indiana state sectional meets. He had one athlete finish third at the 2006 state championship in the high jump and another place 12th at the 2007 state meet in the discus. Conly began his coaching career as the assistant track and field coach at Muncie Central High School (Jan. 2004-June 2005) in Muncie, Ind. Conly is a graduate of Ball State University, where he majored in physical education and health science. At BSU, Conly competed for the Cardinals mens track and field squad before it was disbanded after 2003. Conly finished third in the javelin at the 2003 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships and was an NCAA Mideast Regional qualifier that year. In 2002, he finished eighth at the MAC Championships and set a BSU freshman record in the javelin. He ranks third on BSUs all-time list. Conly holds a USATF Level I Coaches Certification and has lent his services as a camp instructor for three years (2009-11) as instructor at the West Virginia University Track and Field Camp and the Jud Logans Track and Field Camp.

Pleger was named an assistant coach for the BGSU track and field team in Aug, 2015 following a highly successful career in throws at Bowling Green. She is one of the most decorated student-athletes in Bowling Green State University history and a three-time All-American in the hammer throw, placing third at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in each of the past two years.   Pleger is the school record holder in the hammer throw with a toss of 228-feet-9 to win her third consecutive Mid-American Conference Championship in May of 2015. She is the first female three-time All-American in BGSU history and is a two-time Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year, a two-time MAC Most Outstanding Field Athlete and a two-time BGSU Female Athlete of the Year. Additionally, she excelled in the classroom, twice being named an Academic All-American, as well as Academic All-MAC and a MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete.   Pleger will be involved in all aspects of the program including recruiting, coaching, administrative work and meet management. She will also continue to train as a post-collegian with the goal of competing internationally for Team USA.