Ann Roniger
Ann Roniger | |
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Ann Roniger, from a 1957 publication. | |
Born | Martha Ann Roniger February 13, 1943 Manhattan, Kansas, US |
Died | June 9, 2019 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US |
Other names | Ann Roniger Hussong (after 1962) |
Occupation | Educator |
Known for | Penthathlete |
Ann Roniger (February 13, 1943 – June 9, 2019), later Ann Roniger Hussong, was an American athlete, a high jumper and pentathlete.
Early life
Martha Ann Roniger was born in Manhattan, Kansas, the daughter of Pascal Allen Roniger and Martha Sharer Roniger. She was a member of 4-H. Her high school in Elmdale, Kansas had no track team, so her father and brother built some practice equipment on the farm, and Roniger trained in nearby Emporia.[1][2] Ann Roniger attended Colorado State University[3] in Fort Collins for one year, then transferred to the University of Hawaiʻi, on a full athletic scholarship.[4][5]
Career
In 1956, Roniger broke the national standing broad jump record, and tied the National Junior Olympic record for the 50-year dash.[6] From 1957 to 1959, as a teenager in Elmdale, Kansas, Roniger was three-time Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) women's pentathlon national champion.[7][8] Her 1957 win was considered especially notable, because she "had never competed previously in the shotput, hurdles, or high jump", three of the component events.[9][6] She was featured in Sports Illustrated for her accomplishment.[10] In 1958,[11] she won three events, set two Ozark regional records,[12] and finished with the highest total points across the five pentathlon events. In 1959 she was included in the All-America Women's Track and Field Team.[13]
She continued competing as an athlete in college at Colorado State University, where she was a member of the school's first women's track and field team, along with sprinter Lillian Greene-Chamberlain, high jumper Ann Marie Flynn, and Rose Melanchuk.[3] She aspired to a place on the American team for the 1960 Summer Olympics,[14][15] but failed to qualify.[16] In 1961 she transferred to the University of Hawaii, where she continued as a track athlete.[4] In 1962, she set a state women's high jump record at Hawaii's Cooke Field.[17]
In adulthood, Hussong was a health science teacher at a Kansas high school for 25 years. When she retired to Oklahoma, she became a professional organizer.[1]
Personal life
Ann Roniger married Bill Hussong in 1962. They had three children, William, Shawn, and Stephanie. She died in 2019, aged 76 years, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.[1]
References
- ^ a b c "Dies Sunday". Council Grove Republican. 2019-06-14. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
- ^ "Fran Welch Dies". Council Grove Republican. 1970-06-19. p. 1. Retrieved 2019-12-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Hirn, John (February 6, 2012). "Where are you now, Lillian Greene-Chamberlain". Colorado State University Athletics. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
- ^ a b "Untitled news item". Council Grove Republican. 1961-08-23. p. 3. Retrieved 2019-12-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Miller, Ann (August 26, 2001). "The roots of an athletic revolution". The Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
- ^ a b "Wins Natl. Track Honors" (PDF). Kansas 4-H Journal: 14. October 1957.
- ^ Phillips, Harry (October 14, 1957). "These Faces in the Crowd". Sports Illustrated Vault. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
- ^ Phillips, Harry (September 15, 1958). "Faces in the Crowd". Sports Illustratred Vault. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
- ^ "Ann Roniger First in U.S. Pentathlon". The New York Times. October 6, 1957. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
- ^ "More Recognition". The Emporia Gazette. 1957-10-11. p. 1. Retrieved 2019-12-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Penthathlon Title on Line Monday". The Parsons Sun. 1958-08-27. p. 10. Retrieved 2019-12-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Ann Roniger Sets 2 Ozark Records, Wins 3 Events". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1958-06-15. p. 71. Retrieved 2019-12-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Tricard, Louise Mead (1996-01-01). American Women's Track and Field: A History, 1895 Through 1980. McFarland. pp. 385, 401. ISBN 978-0-7864-0219-9.
- ^ "Monday Club Eyes Olympics". Garden City Telegram. 1960-01-07. p. 5. Retrieved 2019-12-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Olympic Laurels". Haskell News. 1957-12-19. p. 5. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
- ^ "Ann Roniger Not On Olympic Team". The Emporia Gazette. 1960-07-18. p. 7. Retrieved 2019-12-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "U. S. Record Set by Leah Bennett". The Honolulu Advertiser. 1962-01-15. p. 43. Retrieved 2019-12-27 – via Newspapers.com.
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Amateur Athletic Union
- 1950–4: Stanisława Walasiewicz
- 1955–6: Barbara Mueller
- 1957–9: Ann Roniger
- 1960: Jo Ann Terry
- 1961–7: Pat Daniels
- 1968: Chi Cheng (TPE)
- 1969: Jan Glotzer
- 1970: Pat Daniels
- 1971: Marilyn King
- 1972–3: Jane Frederick
- 1974: Mitzi McMillan
- 1975–6: Jane Frederick
- 1977: Linda Cornelius
- 1978: Modupe Oshikoya (NGR)
- 1979: Jane Frederick
The Athletics Congress
- 1980: Themis Zambrzycki (BRA)
- 1981: Jane Frederick
- 1982: Jackie Joyner
- 1983: Jane Frederick
- 1984: Cindy Greiner
- 1985–6: Jane Frederick
- 1987: Jackie Joyner-Kersee
- 1988: Sheila Tarr
- 1989: Jolanda Jones
- 1990: Cindy Greiner
- 1991–2: Jackie Joyner-Kersee
USA Track & Field
- 1993: Jackie Joyner-Kersee
- 1994: Kym Carter
- 1995: Jackie Joyner-Kersee
- 1996–8: Kelly Blair LaBounty
- 1999: Shelia Burrell
- 2000–1: DeDee Nathan
- 2002–4: Shelia Burrell
- 2005: Hyleas Fountain
- 2006: GiGi Johnson
- 2007–8: Hyleas Fountain
- 2009: Diana Pickler
- 2010: Hyleas Fountain
- 2011: Sharon Day-Monroe
- 2012: Hyleas Fountain
- 2013–4: Sharon Day-Monroe
- 2015–6: Barbara Nwaba
- 2017: Kendell Williams
- 2018–19: Erica Bougard
- 20212020 OT: Annie Kunz
- 2022: Anna Hall
- Held as a women's pentathlon from 1950 to 1980
- Since 1992 the championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.
- 2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.