After being named to the NCAA Division II All-Region Team in the Pentathlon, Margaret Perko has been selected as the featured Athlete of the Week. She was among the top five women to complete the event in the Midwest Region in Division II Indoor Track and Field.
Perko is a junior majoring in political science and communication. She was born in the Saint Louis, Mo. area and went to Concord-Carlisle High in Concord, Mass. In high school Perko ran cross-country, competed in indoor track and played softball. During her senior year, she began running outdoor track.
“I needed to have some experience on an outdoor track before I was going to compete at a collegiate level,” Perko said.
Perko came to Jewell because of a track and field scholarship. Two of her older sisters also attended Jewell, and Perko remembers exploring the campus while visiting them.
“I would do cartwheels around the quad and imagine what it would be like to go here some day. Little did I know that would actually be the case,” Perko said.
As the season is heating up, Margaret is excited to compete in the heptathlon, an event she has never done before. The heptathlon includes: 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 meters, long jump,javelin throw and 800 meters. She also wants to improve her marks in open events: the long jump and the 100 meter hurdles.
At this years Great Lakes Valley Conference Indoor Championships, Perko placed second in the Women’s Indoor Pentathlon, finished sixth in the women’s 60 meter hurdles and eighth in the women’s long jump.
The Cardinals return to the track at the University of Tulsa March 21.