Michigan State University Athletics
Photo by: Christopher Mitchell
Magness Named Women’s Track Athlete of the B1G Outdoor Championships
5/18/2022 4:00:00 PM | Track and Field
First Spartan to Receive the Award Since Leah O’Connor in 2015
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Days removed from winning a pair of conference gold medals, Michigan State fifth-year senior Jenna Magness was named the 2022 Women's Track Athlete of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, the conference office announced Wednesday.
The Spartan distance runner pulled off a pair of highlight performances, claiming the B1G women's 10,000m title in her first-ever race at the distance on Friday with a time of 33:37.17, and she added to it by repeating as the conference's women's 5,000m champion on Sunday using a 16:17.88 mark.
Magness joins fellow Spartan great Leah O'Connor (2015) in being the only MSU women to earn Women's Track Athlete of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
With the pair of crowns, Magness became the first women's distance runner to win the Big Ten title at both 5,000m and 10,000m in the same weekend since Michigan's Gina Sereno in 2016 and 2017. Magness is also the first Spartan to accomplish the feat at the same B1G Championships since Jamie Krzyminski in 2004 and is only the third Spartan woman all-time to win the Big Ten's 10,000m race after Krzyminski's back-to-back titles in 2003-04 and Mary Shea's 1987 win.
The Grand Ledge, Michigan native has now swept the Big Ten indoor and outdoor women's 5,000m championships in back-to-back seasons, taking gold at the 2021 B1G Indoor Championships before breaking the meet record en route to claiming the gold medal at the 2021 outdoor conference meet and then winning the 5,000m race this February at the 2022 B1G Indoor Championships. Magness is the first Big Ten women's distance runner to win both races in back-to-back season since Kathy Butler won the conference indoor and outdoor 5,000m titles three consecutive years from 1995-97.
A five-time NCAA All-American between cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, Magness holds the MSU women's track program records in both the indoor and outdoor 5,000m distances.
Magness was joined by Men's Track Athlete of the Championships Eric Harrison Jr. (Ohio State), Women's Field Athlete of the Championships Alexus Pyles (Ohio State) and Men's Field Athlete of the Championships Maxwell Otterdahl (Nebraska) in being recognized by the conference' head coaches, while Ohio State's Karen Dennis was named the B1G Men's and Women's Coach of the Year.
Additionally, fellow Spartan seniors Brooke Bogan and Steven Stine were announced as MSU's honorees for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The school's record holder in the women's 60m indoor dash, Bogan battled back from injury to compete in the outdoor 100m dash and the 4x100m relay this past weekend at the B1G Championships. For Stine, he was one of three Spartans to set a new personal-record time in the men's 10,000m race on Friday, running a 30:07.84 mark that finished 19th.
Magness and Michigan State continue the postseason next week at the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Bloomington, Indiana.
The Spartan distance runner pulled off a pair of highlight performances, claiming the B1G women's 10,000m title in her first-ever race at the distance on Friday with a time of 33:37.17, and she added to it by repeating as the conference's women's 5,000m champion on Sunday using a 16:17.88 mark.
Magness joins fellow Spartan great Leah O'Connor (2015) in being the only MSU women to earn Women's Track Athlete of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
With the pair of crowns, Magness became the first women's distance runner to win the Big Ten title at both 5,000m and 10,000m in the same weekend since Michigan's Gina Sereno in 2016 and 2017. Magness is also the first Spartan to accomplish the feat at the same B1G Championships since Jamie Krzyminski in 2004 and is only the third Spartan woman all-time to win the Big Ten's 10,000m race after Krzyminski's back-to-back titles in 2003-04 and Mary Shea's 1987 win.
The Grand Ledge, Michigan native has now swept the Big Ten indoor and outdoor women's 5,000m championships in back-to-back seasons, taking gold at the 2021 B1G Indoor Championships before breaking the meet record en route to claiming the gold medal at the 2021 outdoor conference meet and then winning the 5,000m race this February at the 2022 B1G Indoor Championships. Magness is the first Big Ten women's distance runner to win both races in back-to-back season since Kathy Butler won the conference indoor and outdoor 5,000m titles three consecutive years from 1995-97.
A five-time NCAA All-American between cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, Magness holds the MSU women's track program records in both the indoor and outdoor 5,000m distances.
Magness was joined by Men's Track Athlete of the Championships Eric Harrison Jr. (Ohio State), Women's Field Athlete of the Championships Alexus Pyles (Ohio State) and Men's Field Athlete of the Championships Maxwell Otterdahl (Nebraska) in being recognized by the conference' head coaches, while Ohio State's Karen Dennis was named the B1G Men's and Women's Coach of the Year.
Additionally, fellow Spartan seniors Brooke Bogan and Steven Stine were announced as MSU's honorees for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The school's record holder in the women's 60m indoor dash, Bogan battled back from injury to compete in the outdoor 100m dash and the 4x100m relay this past weekend at the B1G Championships. For Stine, he was one of three Spartans to set a new personal-record time in the men's 10,000m race on Friday, running a 30:07.84 mark that finished 19th.
Magness and Michigan State continue the postseason next week at the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Bloomington, Indiana.
Players Mentioned
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