Track & Field

March 12, 2012

NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced that six Michigan State athletes have earned All-America distinctions for the 2012 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field season.  Awards were given out based on the performances of this past weekend’s NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Nampa, Idaho.

Beth Rohl (New Buffalo, Mich./ New Buffalo) and Tori Franklin (Westmont, Ill./ Downers Grove South) earned first team All-America honors for the Michigan State women. 

Rohl, a Redshirt Junior, owns the school record in the weight throw with an effort of 20.99m (68-10 ½), a feat she accomplished at the Alex Wilson Invitational.  She was a fifth place finisher this past weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships.  In 2011, she was the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year and a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Indoor First-Team All-American.

Franklin took third place in the triple jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships and earned a silver medal at the 2012 Big Ten Indoor Championships as a freshman.   She is Michigan State's indoor school record holder in the event at 13.05m (42-9 ¾), breaking her own record twice throughout the course of the season.  Franklin was also a two-time Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week in 2012.

First team honors on the men’s side went to Zack Hill (Zeeland, Mich./ Allendale) and Lonnie Pugh (Grosse Ile, Mich./Grosse Ile).

Hill, a Redshirt Sophomore, broke Michigan State’s indoor record in the shot put in a sixth place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships and won the bronze in the shot put at the 2012 Big Ten Indoor Championships.  In 2011, Hill was a NCAA East Preliminary Round Qualifier and a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Outdoor Second-Team All-American in indoor and outdoor track.

Pugh, a Redshirt Junior, had a school-record weight throw of 21.40m (70-02 ½) at the Alex Wilson Invitational and placed sixth at the NCAA Indoor Championships.  In 2011, Pugh was a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Outdoor First-Team All-American in the indoor and outdoor track seasons, as well as a 2011 NCAA East Preliminary Round Qualifier.

Fifth-year Senior Jay Gillespie (Allen Park, Mich./Allen Park) earned second team All-America honors for the Spartans, placing ninth at the Indoor Championships in the weight throw.  Gillespie was the school's indoor record holder in the event at 21.32m (69-11 ½) until teammate Pugh topped that mark prior to the end of the indoor season.   In 2011, Gillespie was also a NCAA East Preliminary Round Qualifier in outdoor track.

Honorable Mention honors went to Senior Becca Buchholtz (East Troy, Wis./East Troy) who topped her own school record in the high jump this season, passing the six-foot mark (1.83m).   Buchholtz won the women’s title in the high jump at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, her fourth individual conference title.  She was named Big Ten Co-Field Athlete of the Week on January 23, 2012 and in 2011, Buchholtz was a NCAA East Preliminary Round Qualifier in outdoor track for Michigan State.

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