With an already impressive roster of Olympic hopefuls, the Southeast Regional Training Center adds another world-class athlete to the ranks by welcoming Army WCAP wrestler, Jenna Burkert.
Burkert is training for the Tokyo Olympic Games, attempting to represent the U.S. Olympic Team at 57-kilograms. Burkert is still part of the Army WCAP program, but will be splitting time between WCAP and SERTC as she continues her Olympic journey.
In a mutually monumental move for Burkert in her continuous Olympic journey and the SERTC to help grow women’s wrestling and bolster its roster, she elaborates why she chose Blacksburg:
“I am grateful to both the SERTC/VT as well as my coaches at Army WCAP for allowing me to take on this incredible opportunity. I chose to diversify my training by going with the SERTC because I like to work with coaches who are about the process of developing their athletes, and I really feel like that’s what the SERTC coaching staff does. It’s important to me to always recognize that change is a good thing, it weeds out complacency. Between what I have at WCAP and now with the addition of the SERTC, I feel like the sky is the limit. Thanks to Hokie nation for welcoming me with open arms.”
Since bursting onto the wrestling scene with a Fifth-Place finish at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, Burkert has been a three-time Junior World Team member, had a Fourth-Place finish in the 2018 CISM World Military Championships, and has been a three-time Senior World Team member. In addition to her international experience, Burkert is a 2019 Final X and US Open Champion and a two-time World Team Trials Challenge Tournament Champion (2018, 2019).
An age-level mainstay for the United States and a world-class person, we are excited to assist Jenna as she continues to pursue her goals of becoming a World and Olympic Champion!
The SERTC is a recognized U.S. Olympic Regional Training Center site. With this designation, the SERTC sponsors resident athletes to live and train in the Blacksburg area.
