From the pool to the track with Gwen Jorgensen
May 01, 2008 | Women's Track & Field
Senior Gwen Jorgensen has always been a Badger athlete. The Waukesha, Wis., native has a slight twist to her story at the University of Wisconsin though. Halfway through her college career, Jorgensen switched from competing in swimming to running on the women 's track and cross country teams.
In high school, Jorgensen was a four-time state qualifier in the freestyle events for swimming. She was a conference champion as a sophomore, earned all-state honors and was a four-time MVP on her swim team. The 5-9 Jorgensen was also named all-state in track twice and qualified for the state meet three times in the 800 meters and the 3200-meter relay.
While Jorgensen enjoyed both swimming and running, she ultimately decided to pursue a career in swimming.
'When I was looking at colleges, I knew I wanted to swim,' Jorgensen explains. 'That was my passion at the time.'
For her first two years as a Badger, Jorgensen concentrated just on swimming. While she competed at the Big Ten Conference championships in swimming, she never qualified for an NCAA meet.
Following the 2006-07 swim season, Jorgensen was urged by her high school coach to give track another chance.
After the conclusion of the swim season, Jorgensen explained, 'We have a little tiny break where we have a couple weeks off and I was doing some running. My high school coach talked to me about trying out for the track team and called (UW women's track) Coach Stintzi about me.'
Jorgensen ran a time trial for Stintzi and was invited to join the track team. She did so, feeling that she was ready for a new challenge.
'I really enjoyed running at the time and the team was very welcoming, ' says Jorgensen. 'I loved the swimming team too, but I realized that I actually enjoyed running more than swimming. Everyone on both teams were so supportive of what I decided to do.'
Making the switch from swimming to running was not particularly easy, however, especially jumping into the middle of the track season. Jorgensen joined the team at the start of the outdoor season, training with the middle distance runners.
'Going into it, I was really just looking to push myself,' says Jorgensen. 'I knew that God had given me a talent and I wanted to develop it through Coach Stintzi and the team.'
Jorgensen is especially grateful to her teammates for the encouragement they provided during her transition from swimming to track.
'I can't thank my teammates enough,' she asserts. 'I don't know if they realize how much they've done for me. I count on them when I have a hard workout and they're always there to push me through.
'I struggled a lot the first year with the workouts. I wasn't at the same training level as the other girls, so I was falling off pace in the workouts a lot, but (my teammates) really helped me get there. And coach has really been able to tailor workouts for me throughout.'
The workouts seemed to have worked. With only a couple of months of training, Jorgensen, who joined the track team with three years of eligibility remaining, qualified for the 2007 NCAA Mideast Regional in the 1500 meters with a time of 4 minutes, 27.29 seconds. She improved her time to 4:21.28 at the regional.
In the fall of 2007, Jorgensen joined the cross country team, where she was among the Badgers' top runners all season. She earned all-region honors and was the second UW finisher at the NCAA championship.
During this year's indoor track season, Jorgensen competed as part of the distance medley relay team that placed 12th at the NCAA indoor championships and third at the Big Ten indoor championships. She also finished seventh overall in the mile run at the Big Ten indoor championships.
Outdoors, Jorgensen has already earned her NCAA regional qualifying time in the 1500 meters and will also compete in the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on May 16-18 in Champaign, Ill.
After a full year of competing as a UW runner, Jorgensen has a better idea of what her goals are.
'This season, I really would like to set a personal record in the 1500 meters and help the team out by scoring at the Big Tens,' she says. 'I possibly could run another event (at the Big Ten outdoor championships) and be able to pull some points, because we have some high expectations as a team.'
From the pool to the track, Jorgensen has made the best of her years as a Badger, enjoying and developing both of her athletic talents.
