John Newell Position: Assistant Coach - Throws Experience: Fourth Year Email: jnewell@ath.msu.edu

John Newell by the Numbers:

• 2 Conference Champions
• 2 NCAA National Qualifier
• 11 NCAA Regional Qualifiers
• 6 School Records
• 1 Pan Am Junior National Bronze Medalist

John Newell is entering his fourth season as assistant coach for the track & field program. Newell oversees the throwers on the Spartan roster and in his short time with the program, Newell has made an immediate impact.

Coach Newell helped multiple athletes achieve high accolades in 2009; including Beth Rohl, Lonnie Pugh and four other regional qualifiers. Rohl, the Big Ten indoor freshman of the year, received a bronze medal at the Pan Am Junior Nationals during the summer of 2009. Rohl also recorded a second-place finish at the U.S. Junior Nationals, and first place at the 2009 Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships. Lonnie Pugh earned the first Big Ten Championship title in the men's discus and a tallied a fourteenth place finish at outdoor NCAAs. Pugh ended the season with the best freshman discus throw in the country. He also earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and posted a school record toss in the discus, recording a distance of 58.65m (192-5). Another school record which was shattered was the hammer throw, which Anthony Agrusa tossed 59.21m (194-3), earning him regional qualifying honors. Other regional qualifiers coached under Newell include Brad Wentzel (discuss, shot put), Kyle Strotbaum (hammer throw) and Ashley Lawrence (shot put and discus).

Newell has coached six school-record holders, eleven NCAA Mideast Regional qualifiers including Anthony Agrusa, who finished third at the Big Ten Championships and Zoe Pelbart, who qualified for the NCAA Championships in the javelin. Under Newell's guidance, the Michigan State throwers are turning into one of the most balanced throwing groups in the country having athletes make finals in all throwing events.

He arrived in East Lansing after spending a year at Ashland University in Ohio. At Ashland Newell was trained as a hammer thrower with Jud Logan a four-time Olympian as his coach and mentor. Before his move to Ashland Ohio, Newell completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Georgia where he was coached by Don Babbitt. He was a six time NCAA qualifier in the hammer, weight, and was an All-American in the shot put (18.97m). During his throwing career, Newell proved himself as an all around thrower ranking in the top 15 of all-time as a combination event thrower.

Newell is a record holder in hammer, shot put events at Sacramento City College, where he earned an associates degree in 2002. He then moved on to Georgia, where he served as a Bulldogs' team captain and became an All-American in the shot put. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology from the university in 2005.