Beth Mallory Lesch
Beth (Mallory) Lesch is the daughter of Ken and Sharon Mallory. Born on May 31, 1984, she was the youngest of four children, brothers Matt and Kevin and sister Susan.
She is a 2002 graduate of Ashland High School and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Education from the University of Alabama in 2006. She went on to earn a Masters in Education from The Bowling Green State University in 2009. Her commitment and passion for sports began in early childhood and continues yet today.
Beth participated in youth swimming, soccer, softball, and basketball. In Junior High Beth participated in volleyball, basketball and track. That was when she discovered she had a real talent for track’s throwing events. At Ashland High School she earned 10 varsity letters in tennis, basketball, softball and track. She was a regional qualifier in tennis and OHC 2nd singles champion in 2001. In basketball, Beth was awarded 2nd team All- Northwest District, team MVP and top scorer in 2001 and 2002. She was 3 time State Champion in discus and 1 time State Champion in the shot put. To this day, Beth still holds the records in discus and shot put for Ashland High School. In Beth’s junior and senior year she was selected as female Athlete of the Year. She was 4 time scholar athlete. This success continued to the college level.
Beth was awarded a full scholarship for track and field at the University of Alabama. Under the coaching of Sandra Fowler, Beth continued to excel. Her freshman year she was 14th in the shot put and the weight throw at the SEC Indoor Championships. She finished 8th and 10th respectively in the javelin and the shot put at the SEC Outdoor Championships. Beth was 4th in the discus and 5th in the hammer at the SEC Outdoor Championships. Beth ended her freshmen year with a 5th place finish in the discus throw at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning All-American honors in the process. She shattered her career marks in the shot put, discus and javelin as a rookie. She was also awarded academic all SEC. In the summer of 2003 Beth went on to compete at the USA Junior Outdoor Championships. She finished 2nd in both the discus and hammer at the USA Junior Outdoor Championships earning her a berth on the United States’ Junior Pan-Am Games team. Her 2nd place finishes also earned her Verizon All-American honors at the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field. Beth went on to win 2 silver medals at the Junior Pan- Am Games in the discus and the hammer throw.
In her sophomore year Beth was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country Second Team. She was named SEC Field Athlete of the Week on April 20 after posting the 2nd best discus throw in the nation, a career-best throw of 190 feet and 2 inches, to win the discus at the LSU Alumni Gold. Her throw was second all-time for the Tide in the discus with a career best throw of 191-04. She set the school record in the weight throw with a throw of 64-03.75. She finished 4th in the javelin and 6th in the hammer throw at the SEC Outdoor Championships. Beth won the discus at the SEC Outdoor Championships, becoming the first Tide thrower to win the league discus title and the first field event athlete to win a conference championship since Safiya Ingram won the shot put at the 2000 Indoor championships. She finished 3rd in the hammer and 6th in the discus at the NCAA Mideast Regional. All-American in the hammer throw after taking 7th at the NCAA Championships. She set the school record in the hammer throw with a 205-00 throw at the NCAA Championships. Beth also earned All-American in the discus throw after taking 2nd at the NCAA Championships. In the summer of 2004, Beth competed in the discus at the United States Olympic Trials.
In her Junior year Beth won the shot put and repeated discus champion at the SEC Championships and took third in the hammer throw. Beth was All-SEC in the shot put and discus. She broke her own school record in the hammer throw at the SEC Championships with a throw of 207-10. She also broke her own school record in the weight throw at the SEC Championships with a throw of 67-00.50, good for 5th place. Beth won the discus 6 times, including the SEC Championships and the Drake Relays titles. She took 13th in the shot put at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Beth posted 9 top-10 finishes in the weight throw, including wins at the Kentucky Invitational and the LSU Twilight. Beth earned the Bryant Award, given annually to Alabama’s top student-athlete. She was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country Second Team and Academic All-SEC. Beth earned the Commissioner’s Trophy at the SEC Outdoor Championships for the meet’s high scorer. Beth took 4th in the hammer throw at the NCAA Championships earning all American honors. The biggest highlight of Beth’s junior year was winning the NCAA Discus Title, becoming the Tide’s first individual champion since 1989 shattering the school record in the discus with a throw of 194-09.
In her senior year due to student teaching obligations Beth only competed for the outdoor track and field season. Beth repeated her title as the SEC discus champion and went on to also win the NCAA regional championship meet granting her a berth to the NCAA Division I National Championships. At the National Championship meet Beth finished runner-up in the discus throw. Beth had an amazing career as an Alabama thrower. Her dedication in both school and track earned her several postgraduate scholarships. She was the 2006 recipient of the SEC Boyd McWhorter post graduate scholarship, NCAA post graduate scholarship, and the 1st and 10 club scholarship.
Following graduation Beth continued to compete post collegiately for almost two years. She was very blessed to be a part of the USA track and field post graduate program and traveled all over the USA to compete in meets. In the summer of 2007 Beth was ranked number 3 in the discus in the United States. In 2007 Beth was chosen to receive the most prestigious NCAA Top VIII Award. The Top VIII award is only given to eight student athletes a year in all divisions by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
In 2006, Beth married her husband, Ryan Lesch and they currently reside in Nova, Ohio. They are proud parents of Kinleigh (7), Kenadee (6) and Madden (1). Prior to Madden’s birth Beth was a physical education teacher at Parma Community Elementary School. She is on the worship team at Fellowship Church in Wellington, Ohio and coaches softball for the 8 and under girls softball team in Nova. Beth was assistant coach for the girls tennis team of Ashland High School for 7 years. She also coached the throwing events at Ashland high school for two seasons. Beth loves coaching and helping other athletes and offers private throwing lessons.
Beth is so thankful to God for the abilities and talents He has blessed her with and the opportunities He has given her. She is also thankful for supportive and encouraging family, friends and teammates along her journey.
Nominated by Tom Castor
