Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame
When Patti Wenig arrived on the Augustana campus in the fall of 1987, the school record in the triple jump stood at 32’ 6”. By the time she graduated in the spring of 1991, she had increased the outdoor standard by more than five feet, to 37’ 10¼” and had gone a school-record 38’ 1¼” indoors. In addition, Wenig held the school record in the 400-meter hurdles and had a hand in a pair of relay records. This evening, she takes her place in the Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame.
At Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst, Illinois, Wenig earned eight varsity letters in track, basketball and volleyball. She was named the Lady Knights’ track MVP as a senior, setting a West Suburban Catholic Conference record in the 300 hurdles and adding conference titles in the 100 hurdles and 4x400 relay as well.
In February of her freshman season, Wenig went 36’ 2¾” in the triple jump indoors. The outdoor record officially fell on April 30, when she jumped 34’ 10” to win the Illinois state championship—her first of three consecutive state titles in the event. She leaped 36’ 9” later in the year to break the record again.
As a sophomore, Wenig repeated as the state triple jump champ and also ran on the winning 4x100 relay, which finished in :51.3. She won her first of four College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championships with a 1:08.31 in the 400 hurdles.
A pair of All-America performances, team Co-MVP honors and more school records highlighted Wenig’s junior season. Her triple jump of 38’ 1¼” at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships in Northampton, Massachusetts earned her fifth place and established a school record that would stand for 17 years. That effort made her Augustana’s first women’s indoor track & field All-American. In the spring, she established the new outdoor triple jump record at 37’ 10¼” as well as a new school record in the 400 hurdles (1:03.87). She won her third straight state triple jump title and ran on the state champion 4x400 relay as well. After winning the 1990 CCIW triple jump crown, she went 37’ 2¼” at the national meet to take sixth place and again earn All-America status.
Wenig won two more state championships as a senior in 1991. She took the 400 hurdles in 1:08.3 and led off the Vikings’ winning 1:49.0 in the 4x200 relay. She added a pair of conference titles a week later, running a 1:06.00 in the 400 hurdles and anchoring a 4:03.99 effort in the 4x400 relay. She also qualified for nationals in the triple jump again, but did not place.
Wenig finished her career with three CCIW individual championships and one relay title. She was a member of two conference championship teams (1988—Augustana’s first—and 1991). Coach Fred Whiteside’s Vikings won the Illinois state championship each of Wenig’s four seasons, as she claimed four individual crowns and three more as a member of relays.
All of Wenig’s individual school records lasted a decade or more. Her outdoor triple jump mark fell in 2000, while her indoor standard stood until 2007 and her 400 hurdles mark until 2004. She still ranks in Augustana’s top four all-time in all three events. At the time of her graduation, she was also a member of school record-holding 400 shuttle hurdle and 800 medley relay teams.
Patti graduated from Augustana in 1991 with degrees in biology and pre-physical therapy and received her bachelor of science in physical therapy from Daemen College in Buffalo, New York. She and her husband, Jeff Miller, reside in Rocky Mount, North Carolina with their children Kayla and Brandon. She is employed as a physical therapist by Rehab Revolution and also serves as an assistant swim coach at the Harrison Family YMCA.
With a daughter approaching college age, Patti has found herself reflecting recently on her time at Augustana. “I am truly thankful for the opportunity I have had to participate in athletics purely for the love of the sport. I was surrounded by teammates who shared that same feeling day in and day out. We were led by coaches who brought out the best in us and were instrumental in helping us achieve our goals. It has been an honor knowing that I have been a part of the legacy that is Augustana College.”
