EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State standout Jenna Magness was named to the 2022 Academic All-America Division I Track & Field/Cross Country Third Team, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Wednesday.
To be considered for All-America status, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Magness recently wrapped up her fifth and final season as a member of the MSU women’s track & field and cross country program, graduating this spring with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.
A 2020-21 and 2021-22 Academic All-District honoree by CoSIDA, Magness becomes just the fifth Spartan woman to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American, joining former teammate Annie Fuller (2020 Second Team) alongside Rachele Schulist (2015 Third Team), Lindsay Clark (2015 Third Team) and Becca Buchholtz (2012 Second Team). It is also the third-straight season with a MSU track and field athlete garnering Academic All-America status, as Fuller in 2020 was followed by John Gove and Joe Riordan last season on the men’s side.
Earning Academic All-Big Ten four times in cross country and twice in track & field, Magness was named as a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar last season.
On the cross country course, Magness was part of the 2019 and 2020 Big Ten Championship teams, including being the highest Spartan finisher in 2020. She was also a back-to-back Big Ten bronze medalist, placing third at the 2020 and 2021 conference championships, and earned NCAA All-American status those same seasons with a 16th-place finish at the 2020 NCAA Championships and a 14th-place finish at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Additionally, Magness ran her way to NCAA All-Region honors in 2019 and 2021, and was named the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Cross Country Athlete of the Year for her performance during the 2020 season.
Magness was even more dominant on the track during her MSU career, as a 5000m runner-up finish at the 2020 Big Ten Indoor Championships was a sign of things to come under the soon-to-be-promoted Director of Track and Field Lisa Breznau. After breaking the indoor 5000m school record two weeks prior, she then won the 5000m title at the 2021 Big Ten Indoor Championships before finishing seventh in the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships to become a First Team All-American. Magness followed that by claiming the 5000m title at the 2021 Big Ten Outdoor Championships, finished fourth at the NCAA East Preliminary Round and then garnered another First Team All-American distinction with a fourth-place finish and a program-record time at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She would go on to win the 2020-21 George Alderton Award, given to the top women’s athlete at MSU.
The Grand Ledge, Michigan native then reset the MSU indoor record at the 2022 Music City Challenge with a 5000m time of 15:36.60 before placing second in the 3000m at the Big Ten Indoor Championships and repeating as the 5000m B1G Champion, going on to earn First Team All-American accolades once again in the 5000m by placing sixth at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships. In the 2022 outdoor season, Magness broke her own school record with a 15:26.21 time in the Virginia Challenge’s 5000m and pulled off the double-duty feat of winning the 10,000m and 5,000m races at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, achieving the latter in her first-ever race at the 10,000-meter distance and winning Women’s Track Athlete of the B1G Championships. In her final two collegiate races, Magness finished second in the 10,000m semifinals at the NCAA East Prelims and then posted a personal-best time of 32:59.96 to receive the 10,000m bronze medal at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
In total, Magness racked up six NCAA All-American honors, five Big Ten individual titles and two program records during her tenure in the Green and White.
ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN!
Congrats to @jennamagness on being named to the 2021-22 CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team.
? https://t.co/Xw0kVPRkh1#GoGreen | @CoSIDAAcadAA pic.twitter.com/4jU9VKEbEs
— MSU Track & Field/XC (@MSU_TFXC) June 21, 2022
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