MTF
Swieton, Jenny
Jenny Swieton
- Title:
- Director of Track and Field/Cross Country
- E-Mail Address:
- sever1jm@cmich.edu
- Phone:
- (989) 774-3729
- Year at CMU:
- 9th year at CMU
- Hometown:
- Flint, Mich.
- Alma Mater/Year:
- Central Michigan/2002
In her time as Central Michigan’s Director of Track & Field/Cross Country, former Chippewa student-athlete Jennifer Swieton has delivered on the commitment she made when she was named to lead the program in August, 2017.
In 2023, she saw Negaunee runner Emily Paupore to the first Women's Cross Country Individual MAC Title in Central Michigan history at the 2023 MAC Cross Country Championships at Bowling Green. Paupore went on to earn NCAA All-Region honors in Cross Country. In the 2023-24 Indoor Track season, Paupore won the individual Indoor 5000m MAC title.
In November, 2020, two Chippewa runners, sophomore Adam Rzentkowski and freshman Emily Paupore, earned All-Mid-American Conference honors at the league championships. Rzentkowski placed ninth in the men’s race; Paupore was 12th in the women’s race. They both were named Second Team All-MAC.
In track & field, two CMU seniors, Nadia Williams and Logan Targgart, earned All-America honors for the 2020 indoor season from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Both qualified for the NCAA Championships, Williams in the women’s long jump, Targgart in the men’s weight throw.
Williams earned All-America honors in the long jump during both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2019.
Williams, Targgart and Quiara Wheeler set or tied program indoor records in 2020.
Williams broke her own record in the women’s long jump, recording a leap of 21 feet, 1 ½ inches, while Targgart tied the eight-year-old mark in the men’s weight throw with a toss of 71-11.
Wheeler broke the 10-year-old women’s weight-throw record in the Chippewas’ season-opening meet in December and then broke it two more times during the season, culminating with a toss of 64-9 ¾ at the MAC Indoor Championships in February.
Williams won the women’s long jump and Targgart captured the men’s weight throw at the MAC Indoor Championships. It was Williams’ second-consecutive league indoor long jump title.
Swieton guided the Chippewa women to victory at the 2019 MAC Indoor Championships and she was named the MAC Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year. It marked the first time in 15 years that the Chippewas or their coach had accomplished either feat.
In May, the CMU women finished second at the league outdoor championships, finishing just 2 ½ points out of first place. It was CMU’s best finish since it won the title in ’04.
Williams and Erin Howard earned All-America honors at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Williams placed 14th in the women’s long jump to land a second-team spot, while Howard placed 19th in the women’s shot put, earning honorable mention.
Williams and Howard were among the 14 Chippewas to qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary.
Individually, Swieton’s student-athletes claimed five titles at the MAC Outdoor Championships, led by Williams who won the long jump with a leap of 21-5 ½, setting MAC, CMU, and Ball State Briner Sports Complex records as she became the first Chippewa woman to win the MAC long jump title since 2001.
Williams’ record leap broke a MAC mark that had stood for 27 years.
In addition, CMU’s Jackson Blanchard (men’s 400-meter hurdles), Calli Stemple (women’s high jump), Megan O’Neil (women’s 10,000) and Targgart (men’s hammer throw) also claimed individual MAC outdoor crowns. Blanchard became the first CMU male since 1978 to win the 400-meter hurdles in the league outdoor championships.
In 2017-18, Swieton’s first year in charge of the program, the Chippewas claimed a combined five individual MAC titles at the indoor and outdoor championships. Connor Covert and Howard earned the MAC Freshman Field Male Athlete of the Year and MAC Freshman Field Female Athlete of the Year, respectively.
Three Chippewas earned All-MAC honors in cross country in 2018, led by O’Neil, who landed on the All-MAC First Team for the second-consecutive season. On the men’s side, Luke Anderson earned a spot on the first team after making the second team in 2017.
The Chippewas have excelled in the classroom as well under Swieton. The cross country/track & field programs have combined for 76 Academic All-MAC honors. Thirteen members of the program were named a MAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete in 2018-19.
CMU junior Marissa Dunn won the Dick Enberg Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, one of the highest individual honors a Chippewa student-athlete can achieve.
In addition, both CMU cross country squads garnered Team All-Academic honors from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. It marked the seventh consecutive year that the Chippewa women have been so honored, and the sixth straight year for the men.
Swieton served as the director of men’s and women’s cross country and of women’s track and field from 2010-17 at Murray State in Kentucky. She was named the Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year for women’s outdoor track and field in 2013.
During Swieton’s tenure at Murray State, her student-athletes won a combined 24 league championships and earned 54 All-OVC honors. In addition, three Racers earned All-America honors, and her athletes hold a combined 35 program records in indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country.
Swieton-coached Racers earned league freshman of the year honors three times during her tenure at Murray State, and two Racers were named the Athlete of the Championships at the OVC meet under her watch. She also coached one OVC Athlete of the Year, and two who earned the Murray State Female Athlete of the Year Award.
Swieton served as an assistant in cross country and track and field at North Carolina at Greensboro from 2006-10 after serving one year in the same capacity at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa.
Swieton began her coaching career as a volunteer assistant with Mount Pleasant High School in 2001-02 while completing her bachelor’s degree at CMU. She served as an assistant in track and field and in cross country at MPHS in 2004.
Swieton holds numerous certifications and specialties from the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association.
A Flint native, Swieton was a student-athlete at CMU, running on the track and field and cross country teams. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 2002 and her master’s degree in sports administration in 2011.
She and her husband, Craig, have one son, Logan.
In 2023, she saw Negaunee runner Emily Paupore to the first Women's Cross Country Individual MAC Title in Central Michigan history at the 2023 MAC Cross Country Championships at Bowling Green. Paupore went on to earn NCAA All-Region honors in Cross Country. In the 2023-24 Indoor Track season, Paupore won the individual Indoor 5000m MAC title.
In November, 2020, two Chippewa runners, sophomore Adam Rzentkowski and freshman Emily Paupore, earned All-Mid-American Conference honors at the league championships. Rzentkowski placed ninth in the men’s race; Paupore was 12th in the women’s race. They both were named Second Team All-MAC.
In track & field, two CMU seniors, Nadia Williams and Logan Targgart, earned All-America honors for the 2020 indoor season from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Both qualified for the NCAA Championships, Williams in the women’s long jump, Targgart in the men’s weight throw.
Williams earned All-America honors in the long jump during both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2019.
Williams, Targgart and Quiara Wheeler set or tied program indoor records in 2020.
Williams broke her own record in the women’s long jump, recording a leap of 21 feet, 1 ½ inches, while Targgart tied the eight-year-old mark in the men’s weight throw with a toss of 71-11.
Wheeler broke the 10-year-old women’s weight-throw record in the Chippewas’ season-opening meet in December and then broke it two more times during the season, culminating with a toss of 64-9 ¾ at the MAC Indoor Championships in February.
Williams won the women’s long jump and Targgart captured the men’s weight throw at the MAC Indoor Championships. It was Williams’ second-consecutive league indoor long jump title.
Swieton guided the Chippewa women to victory at the 2019 MAC Indoor Championships and she was named the MAC Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year. It marked the first time in 15 years that the Chippewas or their coach had accomplished either feat.
In May, the CMU women finished second at the league outdoor championships, finishing just 2 ½ points out of first place. It was CMU’s best finish since it won the title in ’04.
Williams and Erin Howard earned All-America honors at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Williams placed 14th in the women’s long jump to land a second-team spot, while Howard placed 19th in the women’s shot put, earning honorable mention.
Williams and Howard were among the 14 Chippewas to qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary.
Individually, Swieton’s student-athletes claimed five titles at the MAC Outdoor Championships, led by Williams who won the long jump with a leap of 21-5 ½, setting MAC, CMU, and Ball State Briner Sports Complex records as she became the first Chippewa woman to win the MAC long jump title since 2001.
Williams’ record leap broke a MAC mark that had stood for 27 years.
In addition, CMU’s Jackson Blanchard (men’s 400-meter hurdles), Calli Stemple (women’s high jump), Megan O’Neil (women’s 10,000) and Targgart (men’s hammer throw) also claimed individual MAC outdoor crowns. Blanchard became the first CMU male since 1978 to win the 400-meter hurdles in the league outdoor championships.
In 2017-18, Swieton’s first year in charge of the program, the Chippewas claimed a combined five individual MAC titles at the indoor and outdoor championships. Connor Covert and Howard earned the MAC Freshman Field Male Athlete of the Year and MAC Freshman Field Female Athlete of the Year, respectively.
Three Chippewas earned All-MAC honors in cross country in 2018, led by O’Neil, who landed on the All-MAC First Team for the second-consecutive season. On the men’s side, Luke Anderson earned a spot on the first team after making the second team in 2017.
The Chippewas have excelled in the classroom as well under Swieton. The cross country/track & field programs have combined for 76 Academic All-MAC honors. Thirteen members of the program were named a MAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete in 2018-19.
CMU junior Marissa Dunn won the Dick Enberg Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, one of the highest individual honors a Chippewa student-athlete can achieve.
In addition, both CMU cross country squads garnered Team All-Academic honors from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. It marked the seventh consecutive year that the Chippewa women have been so honored, and the sixth straight year for the men.
Swieton served as the director of men’s and women’s cross country and of women’s track and field from 2010-17 at Murray State in Kentucky. She was named the Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year for women’s outdoor track and field in 2013.
During Swieton’s tenure at Murray State, her student-athletes won a combined 24 league championships and earned 54 All-OVC honors. In addition, three Racers earned All-America honors, and her athletes hold a combined 35 program records in indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country.
Swieton-coached Racers earned league freshman of the year honors three times during her tenure at Murray State, and two Racers were named the Athlete of the Championships at the OVC meet under her watch. She also coached one OVC Athlete of the Year, and two who earned the Murray State Female Athlete of the Year Award.
Swieton served as an assistant in cross country and track and field at North Carolina at Greensboro from 2006-10 after serving one year in the same capacity at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa.
Swieton began her coaching career as a volunteer assistant with Mount Pleasant High School in 2001-02 while completing her bachelor’s degree at CMU. She served as an assistant in track and field and in cross country at MPHS in 2004.
Swieton holds numerous certifications and specialties from the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association.
A Flint native, Swieton was a student-athlete at CMU, running on the track and field and cross country teams. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 2002 and her master’s degree in sports administration in 2011.
She and her husband, Craig, have one son, Logan.
2021 MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships - Day 2 Men's Session
Saturday, February 27
2021 MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships - Day 1 Men's Session
Friday, February 26
Logan Targgart Feature
Thursday, January 30
Shane Moffo Feature
Thursday, January 17
