GREEN BAY – St. Norbert College (SNC) graduate Jenny (Scherer) Benkert is this month’s “Where Are They Now?” athlete.
Benkert ran cross country and track for the Green Knights.
In 2010, she picked up All-American honors with a third-place finish at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, under the tutelage of SNC Coach Don Augustine.
In 2021, Benkert, a nine-time All-American, was inducted into the St. Norbert College Athletics Hall of Fame.
After leaving St. Norbert, she ran professionally for Hansons-Brooks for two years and ran the 2022 Boston Marathon in 3:05.09.
Benkert currently lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband, Mike, and daughter, Amelia.
Getting her start
Growing up in Delavan, Wisconsin, about 10 minutes from the Illinois border, Benkert said she was a three-sport athlete in high school.
Despite finding success at SNC on the track team, Benkert said she never ran track in high school.
“I was really quite obsessed with basketball, and that’s what I thought I wanted to keep pursuing, but I’m 5 foot 6, so there was a limit to that,” she laughed. “I also played soccer and ran cross country in high school.”
Because basketball was her first love, Benkert said she initially went to St. Norbert to play for long-time coach Connie Tilley.
“I loved Connie as a coach, loved the program and loved the campus,” she said. “As a freshman, I mostly rode the bench, but I think that’s pretty common. I grew impatient and thought about transferring, but a conversation with (then cross country/track and field coach) Joe Dunham changed things for me.”
Benkert said she and Dunham chatted about how she used to run cross country in high school and that she missed running.
With only about 10 girls on the track team at the time, she said Dunham was more than willing to accept a basketball player on his squad.
“Needless to say, he was like, ‘Yes, please,’” she laughed. “I think he thought I was going to be a sprinter because I had more of a basketball build – or maybe at least like a 400/800 runner.”
Benkert said this is when things got a little “crazy.”
“My first meet ever was the indoor conference championship,” she said. “Some people might think it was crazy for coach to think I could perform in the conference meet as my first-ever (college) race,” she said. “I ran the 3K and ended up placing third. It just took off from there, and I think he saw the potential in me. I also loved it because I saw some success. That was spring 2007. I probably only had about two weeks of practice before running indoor conference.”
Even after finding success at indoor conference, Benkert said she still had basketball on her mind.
“That was the big question – run cross country in the fall (of 2007) or continue with basketball at St. Norbert,” she said. “Ultimately, I chose cross country because I thought that was a better path for me.”
In 2009, Benkert finished fourth in the 5K and 10K at the track and field outdoor nationals – her best finishes during her time at SNC.
“At the 2010 cross country championships (at Warburg College, where I finished third), that was probably from a field of about 300 runners, so I was really happy and proud of that race,” she said.
Turning professional
After her highly successful third-place finish at the 2010 cross country championships, Benkert said she was recruited to run professionally by Hansons-Brooks out of Michigan.
She said Hansons-Brooks liked to recruit high-level DIII athletes because they felt like they had really good work ethics.
“I was obviously extremely excited about it, so I moved (to Michigan) in January 2011 after I graduated from St. Norbert in December 2010,” she said. “From there, it was just grinding out a professional running life. Professional running isn’t an overly glamorous career. You pretty much earn bonuses based on certain time standards and places at races. Brooks would pay us based on that kind of thing. I worked at the running store for my main income.”
During her time with Hansons-Brooks, Benkert said she trained with Des Linden – a two-time Olympic marathoner and the 2018 Boston Marathon winner.
“Des is one of the coolest people I’ve ever met,” she said. “I ran for Hansons-Brooks for two years and had some really good performances in the half marathon. My best time was a 1:15, but I never went on to the marathon.”
Life took a turn
Benkert said during her time with Hansons-Brooks, she struggled with an eating disorder.
She said that prevented her from moving forward with the team.
Benkert said when she missed qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Trials by about 45 seconds, her mindset was to train harder.
“As you can imagine, when I was that close to qualifying for the Olympic Trials, it was a huge disappointment,” she said. “That’s when I started running into a lot of troubles with not fueling properly, stress fractures, etc.”
After her time at Hansons-Brooks came to an end, Benkert said she moved to Minnesota and got some help with treatment.
“The Emily Program (a University of Minnesota Medical School Affiliate) works with athletes who have struggled with eating disorders,” she said. “That was one of the pivotal life-changing places I’ve ever gone to. For that, I’m extremely thankful I got connected with that kind of resource.”
Today, Benkert said, “I’m doing great,” regarding her past eating disorder.
“I checked out of treatment 10 years ago in 2015, so that’s pretty exciting,” she said. “I’m married, Amelia is two and I’m pregnant with a second child. When I was in those darker times getting treatment, one of my big goals was to make sure I could have kids and that I healed myself before getting married and having kids. So it’s special to say ‘yes, I’m in a very good place.’ I go to therapy a lot, but I’m in a really good place and proud of where I am.”
Still hitting the pavement
Just because Benkert is 15 years removed from her successful career at St. Norbert, that doesn’t mean she’s still not competitive.
She said she would still consider herself a “highly competitive runner.”
“I’ve run four or five marathons around three hours and qualified for Boston – lots of fun things,” she said. “My last half I did before I was pregnant, I ran a 1:25. That’s interesting because that’s only 10 minutes off my PR. I have a coach and still run with a pretty competitive group. I like training and still run as much as I can.”
Benkert, who earned a master’s degree in athletic administration from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2017, said she moved to Cincinnati in 2019.
“I thought I wanted to be in athletics my whole career,” she said. “The University of Cincinnati (UC) had a really good opportunity to work in their athletic department as an academic advisor. Moving to Cincinnati was a bit risky for me because I hadn’t been there much and didn’t know much about the area, but I fell in love with it.”
Benkert said she also met her husband in Cincinnati.
“Interestingly enough, I don’t work with athletes anymore,” she said. “With how NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) has changed college athletics, I kind of fell out of love with it – it wasn’t fitting for me anymore. I still work at UC, but I work as an academic advisor for pre-med students.”
When not working as an academic advisor at UC and spending time with family, you can bet you’ll find Benkert putting in the miles and enjoying life.
Sports Editor’s Note: If you have an idea for a “Where Are They Now?” athlete, email Rich at Palzewic@gmail.com.
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