BOWLING GREEN — Zaresha Neal still has a couple of memories from the first track and field meet she competed in for Bowling Green State University on Dec. 8, 2017.

She remembers being nervous, but was ready for the BG Opener after her coaches gave her some lighthearted advice.

Five and a half years later, the Falcons’ standout will be wrapping up her historic throwing career on a national stage for the third time, as she will be competing in the discus in the NCAA outdoor track and field championships Saturday night at the University of Texas.

“I knew that when I came in as a freshman, I was committed to the process, and I was committed to the plans that God had for me, and I trusted Jesus and what he had planned for me in my life here at BG,” said Neal, a 2017 Findlay High School graduate. “I knew to some extent that I would be successful, maybe not this successful. But it’s just a blessing and an honor to even be at BG, to train, to do all the things here that I have accomplished.”

The high-level experiences and big-time performances Neal has had in the orange and brown have been aplenty. She earned second-team All-America honors in the shot put with a 13th-place finish in the 2022 NCAA indoor championships, then placed 18th in the event in last year’s NCAA outdoor meet.

With her 10th-place finish in the discus (174-2) in the NCAA East Regional on May 27 in Jacksonville, Fla., Neal became the first athlete in school history to qualify for an NCAA outdoor championship in both the shot put and discus.

She also became the first to qualify for outdoor nationals in the discus since Beth Manson in 1989.

“It’s so hard just to do that once, but three times, with indoors and outdoors in a couple different events, both the shot and the disc, this really puts her in the most elite realm of track and field athletes here at Bowling Green,” BGSU coach Lou Snelling said. “I think there’s an element of she’s just a driven individual, and the work ethic is through the roof.

“At the same time, just a fantastic human being. But athletically, to qualify in both over the years is special, unique, and hasn’t happened here before.”

For Neal, a five-time Mid-American Conference champion in the throws, the reality of her college career coming to an end this weekend has sunken in. To get to cap it off on the biggest stage in her favorite event, though, makes the ending even more special.

“I’ve been consistently trying to make it out in the discus, and I never really have until this point,” Neal said. “So coming in as a freshman, that was one of my goals.

“I wanted to break the school record, and I also wanted to go to nationals for discus, so this is a huge accomplishment on my end.”

Neal’s final year has been filled with success. She was named MAC field athlete of the week a handful of times during the outdoor season after receiving the honor several times during the indoor campaign.

Neal has 13 of the 16 best marks in the discus in school history, including the top throw of 181-6 set last season. Four of her six best marks have been from this year.

Her personal best in the shot put (55-5½) is the sixth-best mark in school history behind 2019 graduate and former first-team All-American Aliyah Gustafson. Neal has 17 of the top 30 marks overall.

First-year BGSU throws coach Marcus Myers, a 2014 Patrick Henry graduate who was third in the discus at the OHSAA state meet as a senior, said they have focused on consistency in bringing up her overall average in the discus.

“When I first got here, it’s one thing to come in as a new coach, it’s another thing to come in with an elite athlete who’s been here for five years and take over her last year,” Myers said. “So that was a pretty big challenge.

“The No. 1 thing that I told her was she wasn’t a shot putter; she was a discus thrower that threw the shot. And two, the thing we wanted to focus on was improving our average on the year, because at the end of the day, when you get to a certain level, elite athletes throw far, it doesn’t matter. If you’re up there, everyone can throw far at those meets. ... What is our average throw that we’re going to get in three throws that’s going to potentially give us three more.”

Neal will be hoping for another big performance at nationals like she had at regionals, where she entered the meet seeded 20th. She will be seeded No. 22 out of 24 competitors in the event.

The first goal is to find a way to make it to finals, then to “let loose and have fun” for the remaining few throws of her career.

“[Representing BGSU] has built me up as a person and it’s built me up as an athlete and what that looks like moving forward not only to my career but in my personal life, as well,” Neal said. “... Hard work and dedication and trusting the process are going to be the top three things that are going to get me to that next step [in life].”

Neal’s development has set an example for future Falcons.

“It’s been very fulfilling to watch her develop over the years, because as she was getting her career started, one of our other greats [Gustafson] was kind of finishing up her career,” Snelling said. “So kind of passed the torch a bit there, and I think it’s just a great example for our younger group in terms of Zaresha, at that point in her career, was not Zaresha at this point in her career.

“Just the development that’s happened and the intentionality and the work ethic she’s had to have to get to this point, I think, is just a great legacy that she can leave behind for that younger generation.”

First Published June 7, 2023, 6:49 p.m.