Beth Rohl (2024) - Hall of Fame - Michigan State University Athletics

Beth Rohl

Induction:
2024
Class:
2013

Beth (Rohl) Saylors
Women's Track & Field 2008-13
New Buffalo, Mich.
MSU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024

HALL OF FAME FEATURE: CLASS OF 2024

Beth (Rohl) Saylors graduated from Michigan State in 2013 as the most decorated female thrower in school history. Nevertheless, when Michigan State Vice President and Director of Athletics Alan Haller called her with the news of her induction into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame, she was in complete shock.

"I knew he (Haller) was looking for me and I had no idea what it was in regard to," said Saylors. "And when he told me, I was just completely in shock at the time and I could not believe it. It's something I never expected. That is an amazing honor for anyone to achieve, and to find out that you're achieving that was a big shock. Very exciting, but definitely a big shock."

Saylors won the shot put state title as a senior at New Buffalo High School in 2008 and joined the MSU track & field team as a walk-on that fall. She credits her high school coach, Lisa Knoll, for getting her into the sport.

"She's the one who convinced me to try track," said Saylors, who didn't start track & field until her senior year at New Buffalo and won the shot put state title after only a few weeks of training. "She was the one who convinced me that, after I won state, I should contact the coaches at Michigan State since I was already accepted to MSU."

Still relatively new to throwing, it didn't take long for Saylors to leave her mark. At the 2009 Big Ten Indoor Championships, she won her first conference title as true freshman in the weight throw. To make it even more special, she won that title alongside freshman teammate and high jumper Rebecca Bucholtz and says it's one of her favorite memories from her time as a Spartan.

"Both events were happening at the exact same time," said Saylors. "And we both won at the same time. That was really neat to experience because she was also a freshman, so we were both able to do that."

Saylors was awarded Big Ten Indoor Freshman of the Year honors that season and became the first Spartan since 1991 to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. She was also named to the All-Big Ten First Team, becoming the first freshman in school history to earn All-Big Ten indoor honors. Later that year, Saylors competed at the 2009 Pan American Junior Championships and was the top American finisher with a third-place effort in the hammer throw.

Saylors qualified for her first NCAA Championships during the 2010 outdoor season and qualified for each remaining NCAA meet for the rest of her collegiate career. She earned seven First Team All-America honors, three in the weight throw and four in the discus. Her best finishes came during her senior year, where she earned silver in the weight throw during the 2013 indoor season and bronze in the discus during the outdoor season.

"Throwing on the national stage, when you go to nationals and you throw and you're competing against the best in the country, that's a whole different experience," said Saylors. "To be there and know you're not the only one there, your team is there, and everyone is working together. We were able to score and put points on the board at the national level. I thought that was pretty neat."

Along the way, Saylors went on to win four more Big Ten titles – one indoor, the 2013 weight throw, and three outdoor, the 2011 discus and hammer throw titles and the 2013 discus title. She was named the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year twice, once during the 2011 outdoor season, where she was also named the Big Ten Outdoor Field Athlete of the Championships, and once during the 2013 indoor season. She also represented the Spartans at the 2012 Olympic Trials in the discus, placing seventh, and at the 2013 USA Outdoor Championships in the discus where she finished fourth to earn an alternate spot at the 2013 IAAF World Championships.

She finished her collegiate career with three school records - 59.78m in the discus, 62.87m in the hammer throw, and 22.31m in the weight throw. Her 59.78m mark in the discus was a then-Big Ten record, while her 22.31m weight throw mark still stands as the school record today.

Saylors says the people around her at MSU and at home helped her reach the level of success that she did.

"Coach (John) Newell taught me most of what I know about track, and I wouldn't have been able to accomplish what I did without him," said Saylors. "The throws group in itself, the athletes that we were all with. You traveled with them, you trained with them. They became like a family that you competed with. We always were pushing each other, especially in the weight room. The athletic training department and (athletic trainer) Lianna Hadden, she kept me together in order to compete and achieve everything I've done. (Academic advisor) David Williams made sure I was staying on the right track for academics as well. The whole Michigan State athletic department, they helped create the experiences. And of course, I'm incredibly grateful to my family for always supporting me no matter what happened."

After graduating from MSU in 2013, Saylors trained at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California, for a year before moving to Camp Verde, Arizona, where she currently lives with her husband and three young children. Now, she stays at home with her three children, Evan (8), Magnolia (3) and Hank (2).

Her family will watch her name become forever cemented in the Hall of Fame this fall.

"It is such an honor. It's just something that I never expected, and to hear that you're going into the Hall of Fame with all of these other athletes. I walked the actual Hall and looked at the names and looked at all the record books and everything that has been displayed. And to see that, and to know that I am going to be a part of that, of the people that we have idolized ahead of us, is an amazing experience."