The Tech’s Athlete of the Week: Jacqui Wentz ’10
The Tech’s Athlete of the Week: Jacqui Wentz ’10
On January 25, Jacqueline M. Wentz ’10 became the first female athlete in the country to qualify for Division III NCAA Championships in the 5000 meters this year. Her automatic qualifying time of 17:05.2 at the Terrier Invitational broke the MIT record for the distance.
The morning after this performance, Wentz anchored the Distance Medley relay and ran a 5:04.2 for the 1600 meters, setting a personal record.
In light of this accomplishment, Wentz was named the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week. She is the second Engineer in two years to qualify for Nationals in the 5000 meters.
This season, Wentz has captured first place in a range of distances. At the Bates vs. Colby & MIT meet on January 17, her wins in the 1000 meters (2:59.94) and the mile (5:10.01) set her season off to an impressive start.
On January 31, Wentz’s victories in the 800 meters (2:18.45) and the mile (5:09.95) at Bowdoin College were accompanied by her anchor leg in the 4x400 meters, when she held off opponents to help her team earn another event win.
Division III NCAA Championships for Indoor Track will take place in Indiana on March 13-14.
—Maggie Lloyd, Staff Reporter