ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – With seven very different events spread out over two days, the heptathlon requires as much mental strength as it does physical strength.
This weekend, Jenna Degen proved she has both.
Degen, a sophomore on the College of Saint Benedict track and field team, faltered slightly in the 100-meter hurdles – the first event of the MIAC Heptathlon Thursday. Instead of letting that break her concentration for the remaining six events, she powered through and finished runner-up. For her performance, Degen has been named the CSB Athlete of the Week.
In the first event of the two-day heptathlon, Degen hit the last hurdle in the 100-meter hurdle race and took sixth in 16.06 seconds. Thirty minutes later, she came back and won the high jump, tying her career-best with a mark of 1.60 meters. That win bumped her all the way from sixth to first in the 14-person competition. A fifth-place finish in the shot put dropped Degen back to third, and she wrapped up day one with a third-place finish in the 200-meter dash, putting her fourth heading into the second day of competition. Her time of 26.93 seconds marked a new personal best.
Degen came out strong Friday afternoon and finished second in the long jump with a mark of 5.26 meters, moving her up a spot to third overall. She remained in third after finishing fifth in the javelin, and used a third-place finish in the 800 – the last event of the heptathlon – to finish runner-up and earn eight points for CSB heading into this weekend’s conference championships.
Degen finished with 4,509 points, which is just six points shy of the school record she set in April. She is currently seventh in Division III thanks to her score of 4,515 at the CSB|SJU Multi.
Degen competes again, this time with her CSB teammates, at the MIAC Outdoor Championships, which run Friday and Saturday, May 12-13, at Hamline University in St. Paul.
