MSU Track & Field Travels to Last Chance Meet for Final NCAAs Tune-up

  EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State track & field team will travel to Notre Dame, Ind., this weekend (March 4-5) for its final NCAAs tune-up with

 

 

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State track & field team will travel to Notre Dame, Ind., this weekend (March 4-5) for its final NCAAs tune-up with the Alex Wilson Last Chance Meet. The Spartans head to Notre Dame for the third time this season as they look to qualify additional individuals for the NCAA Indoor Championships meet the following weekend.

 

Last Time Out...

The Spartans concluded the 2011 Big Ten Indoor Championships last weekend when the men traveled to the Champaign, Ill., and the women to West Lafayette, Ind., on Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 26-27. As a team, the women place sixth as a team while the men ended action in eighth. MSU saw three Big Ten Championships as well as three second-place marks.

 

Record-Breaking Spartans...

Although it's early in the season, the Spartans have already rewritten the MSU record books during the 2011 season. So far, three school records have been broken during the indoor season.

 

Indoor:

• Lonnie Pugh

Weight Throw (20.69m (67-10.75)) - Big Ten Indoor Championships

 

• Beth Rohl

Weight Throw (20.44m (67-0.75)) - GVSU Big Meet

 

• Carlie Green, Alysson Bodenbach, Amelia Bannister and Emily MacLeod

Distance Medley Relay (11:17.62) - Meyo Invitational

 

Big Ten Champs…

Emily MacLeod opened the weekend on Saturday with a win in the 3,000-meter run. The Loveland, Ohio, native started the event on a high note for MSU as she won the first event title indoors in school history with a time of 9:22.83. MacLeod closed out the weekend on Sunday with her second win of the weekend when she clocked in a 16:25.65 in the 5,000-meter run.

 

Ashley Stacey captured her first conference crown of her career when she posted a personal-best leap of 12.69m in the triple jump. Stacey became only the second Spartan all-time to win an indoor triple jump title in program history, joining Sherita Williams who won the event in 2001.

 

Post-Season Conference Honors…

Emily MacLeod and Ashley Stacey both received First Team All-Big Ten distinction for their conference championships.  Joining MacLeod and Stacey with Second Team All-Big Ten honors were Zack Hill, Lonnie Pugh and Beth Rohl.

 

Conference Kudos...

After her impressive performance in the weigh throw at the GVSU Big Meet several weekends ago, Beth Rohl was named Big Ten Women's Field Athlete of the Week. Rohl earned the weekly honor for the first time in her career after she recorded a school-record mark of 20.44m to rank eighth nationally and sit atop the conference standings. Rohl's mark not only broke the female record which she had previously set earlier this season at the Kentucky Invitational, but it also is the best toss in program history by either gender.

 

Climbing the Rankings...

The MSU track & field team celebrates 16 Spartans that are ranked in the top-50 in the latest national poll - eight women and eight men. Leading all Spartans is Beth Rohl ranking 10th in the eight throw (20.44m). Also ranking in the top-15 in the nation is Emily MacLeod in the 3000-meter run (9:15.60), the 11th-top mark nationally. MacLeod is the lone Spartan with three top-50 performances in the nation as she is 29th in the 1-mile run (4:42.08) and 34th in the 5000-meter run (16:20.65. The distance medley relay team of Carlie Green, Alysson Bodenbach, Amelia Bannister and MacLeod combined for a school-record time of 11:17.62 to rank 22nd nationally. Leslie Aririguzo is the lone female sprinter as she is 50th nationally in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.40. Rebecca Buchholtz is one of two jumpers for MSU in the top-50 as she is 38th in the high jump (1.76m). Ashley Stacey rounds out the women as she is 28th in the triple jump (12.69m)

 

Lonnie Pugh paces the men's side with his 14th-best ranking in the weight throw (20.69m). Zack Hill is 15th nationally in the shot put with a toss of 18.57m. Anthony Agrusa is second on the team in the weight throw and is 18th in the nation (20.30m). Just behind Agrusa is Jay Gillespie who ranks 36th nationally in the weight throw with a 19.84m mark. Brad Wetzel round out the men in the weight throw as he ranks 38th nationally (19.73m). Kurt Schneider, who made his heptathlon career debut several weekends ago, arrives in at 37th nationally in the event with a score of 5380. Cliff Miller leads the jumpers in the high jump with his 28th ranked mark of 2.15m. Codi Mattix gives MSU two male jumpers as he is 45th in the pole vault (5.18m).

 

Next Up...

The Spartans close out their indoor season when they travel to the NCAA Indoor Championships on Saturday-Sunday, March 11-12. The competition will be contested in College Station, Texas on the campus of Texas A&M.