Jenna Wrieden enters her first season as the assistant cross country and track and field coach at Queens.
Wrieden, who was a four-year student-athlete at Arizona State University, joins Queens after earning her master’s degree at Appalachian State University in August in 2008.
After earning her master’s degree, Wrieden, a native of Glendale, Ariz., returned to ASU in the capacity of a graduate assistant for the cross country and track and field teams. She helped lead the men’s and women’s team cross country teams to top-10 finishes at the West Regional Championship and took the women to a 14th place finish at the NCAA Championship in 2008. Her championship experiences continued through the indoor and outdoor track seasons as the men and women’s teams took fifth at the indoor championship and at the 2009 Outdoor Championship the women’s team placed third with the men placing eighth, respectively. Wrieden also held administrative roles within the program, as she assisted with team management and home meet management.
While earning her master’s degree in exercise science with a concentration in strength and conditioning at Appalachian, Wrieden competed for the Mountaineers as a student-athlete in her final year of eligibility highlighted by an All-Region finish in the 2006 Southeast Region Championships and several Southern Conference individual runner-up titles and team championships. The following year, she was the assistant coach for the cross country teams and track distance runners. Wrieden coached the men’s cross country team to a 2007 SoCon Championship, 2008 men’s track outdoor SoCon Championship and six individual champions between cross country, indoor and outdoor track.
Wrieden has also worked with the elite running organization, Zap Fitness in Blowing Rock, N.C. where she was an intern for several summers. While with Zap she gave lectures on exercise physiology, nutrition, and training and also helped lead running groups at adult running camps
As a Sun Devil, Wrieden competed for the harriers for three seasons and ran at the 2003 NCAA Cross Country Championships, where the team placed 14th overall. She also won her first career race, capturing the George Kyte Invitational in Flagstaff in 2005. her time with the team, the Sun Devils took runner-up honors in the Pac-10 four times and the NCAA West Region three times while continuing to climb higher in the national standings. On the track, Wrieden competed for three seasons and ran in a pair of Pac-10 races, placing among the Top 14 in both runs. Overall, she was honored by the Pac-10 on six occasions with academic awards, including three in both cross country and track & field.
Wrieden graduated from ASU with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology.
