WEST SUNBURY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Jenna Zendron’s freshman year was lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her sophomore season fell victim to a badly broken ankle, a chunk of bone ripped off when a ligament snapped.
As a junior, she ran mostly distance races for the Moniteau girls track and field team. She was good, turning in solid times and winning her fare share of races, but Zendron was sure she was capable of more.
(Pictured above, Jenna Zendron, left, poses with Gabby Stewart after breaking Stewart’s record in the 100-meter dash on Wednesday)
“It’s hard being a junior and not really knowing, ‘Is this my event? Is this what I want to do?’” Zendron said. “I was still testing the waters.”
Then, a stroke of good fortune.
Needing a sprinter to pick up valuable points against Cranberry in the first meet of the season, Zendron was placed in the 100-meter dash.
The senior had never run that event before, but zoomed to the win. Zendron ran it so well, in fact, Moniteau coaches decided to keep her in that race.
Suddenly, the distance runner became a sprinter.
Zendron felt at home. Her times dropped. Wins piled up.
Last Wednesday, she finished the 100 in 12.64 seconds, which broke the school record once held by Gabby Stewart.
“I started crying,” Zendron said. “Everyone was coming up to me and hugging me. It was really amazing that day because not only was it our senior night, but I also got to meet the previous record-holder because she was there for her sister.”
Stewart was on hand to watch her younger sibling, Autumn, compete. She congratulated Zendron and posed for a picture with her in front of the record board at the Moniteau high school stadium.
“I told her about how I’d been looking up to her for a long time, looking at her records — she has about three of them on that board,” Zendron said. “I told her I thought she was a great athlete and I’m happy I could be associated with someone like her.”
Zendron wants more.
(Zendron sprints toward the finish line during her record-setting 100 race last week)
She’s gunning for the 400-meter run record of 59.25 set by Haley McFeaters.
Zendron ran a time of 1:00.64 Saturday at the City of Hermitage Invitational in the pouring rain.
Her previous best was in the 1:02 range.
“Last year and for most of this year, I was unable to shake 62 (seconds),” Zendron said. “I was just so consistent with that time.”
Now, she’s gunning for the low 59s.
Zendron is also looking to be a part of another school record in the 4×100 relay with Allie Pry, Katelyn Reott and Rylee Long.
Those three, while running with senior and foreign exchange student from Italy, Camilla Passoni, last season, set the mark at 52.8 seconds.
Zendron replaced Passoni on the relay and runs the anchor leg. They are closing in on the record time.
Not bad for a distance runner who had never run a sprint event before this season.
“Last year, the 400 was my shortest event,” Zendron said. “Now it’s my longest.”
Different things go through Zendron’s mind when she is running.
As she said, during the 100 “there’s not enough time to think about anything.” But in the 400, she’s simply trying to survive.
“It’s just telling myself to keep pushing myself through the pain of it all,” Zendron said. “Usually the last 50 meters is when my hands start to tingle and my vision gets a little hazy. It’s very hard to keep pushing through something like that.”
Pushing through things is something Zendron had a lot of practice doing early in her track career.
COVID shutdowns kept her away from running in the spring of her freshman year.
Excited to get back on the track again, Zendron severely injured her left ankle, tearing a ligament that took a piece of bone with it when it snapped during preseason training. She was on crutches for four months.
It stunted her development and left her with a lot of uncertainty.
“I’d always wanted to be a sprinter all through middle school, elementary school,” Zendron said. “I only joined cross country because I thought it’d be fun to meet new people and get some endurance under my belt.”
But Zendron was quite good at it — she qualified for the PIAA Cross Country championships this fall — and was sort of pigeon-holed into the distance races.
Until she got her shot in the 100.
Zendron has already qualified for the District 9 championship meet in four events — the 100, 200, 400 and 4×100. The ultimate goal is to qualify the state meet in all four.
She’s hoping to reach Shippensburg in at least one.
No matter what happens, Zendron has her name on the record board in the 100, which is still surreal to her.
“I came to the realization when I broke the record — it kind of hit me that a year ago, I would never have thought that I’d even be running the 100,” Zendron said. “Now I broke the record. That’s pretty neat.”
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