Jenni Marcell '08 is arguably the greatest thrower in Ripon's Women's Track & Field history. A conference champion in two different events, Marcell still holds the school record for both the Indoor Shot Put (43-01.75) and Outdoor Discus (136-04.5), 13 years after her graduation. A National Qualifier in the Indoor Shot Put, Marcell was inducted into Ripon's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018, the first year she was eligible.

"Jenni was by far the most versatile throws student-athlete in Ripon College track & field history, holding four of the five 'true' throwing event records in program history at one point in her career," former Ripon Head Track & Field Coach Bob Duley said. "To be technically sound in every single throwing event requires great talent, hard work, and a focus on perfection that only an exceptionally gifted student-athlete can possess."

Marcell burst onto the scene as a freshman, finishing second in the shot put at the 2005 MWC Indoor Championships with a throw of 38-06.25. The following year, she continued to improve, finishing third at the same meet in the weight throw.

As a junior, Marcell began to separate herself from the rest of the conference, winning her first career conference championship in the shot put at the MWC Indoor Championships with a throw of 43-01.75, which was just four inches shy of the conference record and qualified her for the 2007 NCAA Division-III National Championships.

Accompanying her to Nationals that year was her throws coach, Mike Immel '96, who as a student-athlete, was Ripon College Track & Field's first-ever National Champion, accomplishing that feat in the discus. Immel, unlike Marcell, had the physical stature of a collegiate thrower, but that didn't stop Marcell's dream of competing at Nationals.

"When someone imagines the size of a person that it takes to throw the shot put, discus, and hammer successfully, one imagines a large individual that blocks out the sun when they walk by," Immel said. "Jenni broke that mold and became the best all-around thrower that Ripon College track & field has ever seen."

That predetermined size for a thrower wasn't just confined to fans and spectators of the sport, but also to officials that were working the actual meets.

"At the 2007 Indoor National Championships, Jenni had just finished competing and was in the throwers-only area with her warmups on when the head official for the NCAA approached Jenni and told her that she'd have to leave because that area was for throwers only," recalled Immel.

That meet was the culmination of years of hard work and dedication from both Marcell and Immel, who helped turn a talented, but raw student-athlete into the National Qualifier that she became.

"I was told my entire life that I was too small to be a thrower and that I couldn't do certain things. Throughout junior high and high school, I never had a throwing coach, so I trained myself, until Coach Immel became my throwing coach in college," Marcell said during her Hall of Fame acceptance speech in 2018. "Coach Immel understood my inability to get any bigger than what I was, so we worked on my speed instead."

Marcell continued her outstanding year during the 2007 MWC Outdoor Championships, placing in the top four in four different throwing events at that meet, while breaking the conference record in the hammer throw with a first-place throw of 141-08, which marked the second conference championship of her career. She also finished third in both the shot put and discus, while placing fourth in the javelin at that meet.

Marcell capped her indoor track & field career at the 2008 MWC Championships by finishing second in the weight throw and third in the shot put. Later that year, she ended her career at the 2008 MWC Outdoor Championships by finishing second in both the shot put and hammer throw.

"The night before Jenni competed in the MWC Championships for the final time of her career, I told her that one day, she would be in Ripon's Athletics Hall of Fame," Immel recalled. "And that's exactly where she ended up."

A native of Kronewetter, Wis., Marcell graduated with a B.A. in Biology from Ripon College with a minor in Chemistry. She went on to attend the University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Optometry, earning her Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) in 2012. While at Ripon, she was a student-athletic trainer, tutor, lab assistant, member of Beta Beta Beta Honor Society, and a member of Orientation Committee. She previously worked at Norton Sound Health Corporation in Nome, Alaska, providing care to the rural population in numerous villages, before joining the Eye Clinic of Wisconsin in 2018 where she specializes in Comprehensive Optometry and Eyeglass Prescriptions.


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