Chemical Bank Good Citizens Made in Michigan: Sanford’s Cindy Wenzlick
The Wenzlick name is quickly becoming synonymous with Jack Pine Conference success. Just two years ago, her son Brad Wenzlick was shredding the competition on the hardwood. His uncanny ability to orchestrate Coach Mitch Bohn’s offense, dribble through the defense and kick out to VanNortwick or Ham on the wings or reverse lanes, shift gears and double-clutch to the hoop made the Mustangs a buzz-saw basketball squad. Then Jeremy and Jacob Wenzlick were showing flashes of their own right on the grid-iron, hardwood, and on the oval; and expect those boys to play a huge role in the Mustangs future. Don’t forget she has her youngest son Jonah coming up the ranks.
These young men have undoubtedly learned a lot of what it takes to be successful from their mother Cindy Wenzlick.
An absolute road-warrior, since she first caught the running fever as a young girl, she has logged well over 100,000 miles running. “In the process, she has worn out over 50 pair of shoes, two dozen hats, and 3 dogs,” said her husband of 26 years, Russ.
She leads by example, and a tough example at that. She manages to run every day despite being a mother of six, working as a substitute teacher and at Dow Corning, as well as her responsibilities at St. Agnes Catholic Church, and her multiple coaching duties.
Cindy is known for pounding the pavement every chance she gets. She can be seen running anywhere from Midland to Coleman, to Edenville; religiously logging her daily 8-10 miles.
“ About eight years ago, she did miss a week of running due to a lung virus; but nothing short of that would cause her to miss a day running. She often runs at 5am, to accommodate her work schedule,” said Russ. “In the winter, she will wear Yaktrax to assist her with running on ice and snow. Her daily run is simply part of her life. During her college days, she occasionally ran from SVSU in Saginaw to her home in Montrose (a distance of 30 miles).”
So you can see how this hardworking, blue collar ethic would spread and become infectious in the Wenzlick family household.
But for her, her running career wasn’t just a hobby or something that has kept her in shape; it’s been a colorful journey was an amazing storyline of success. Always been a committed runner, in 2005 she was inducted into the Montrose Sports Hall of Fame. This was in recognition of her past running accomplishments of four high school records, four SVSU records, 12 time woman’s NAIA all-American, NAIA national champion in the marathon where she holds the college record at 2:57.2 and qualified for the 1984 Olympic trials.
And although she mostly runs for spirit of exercise, she continues to find herself in the upper-echelons of the events. She recently ran in the Mid-Michigan half marathon series at Mt Pleasant on June 23rd, taking 1st in her age group with a respectable time of 1:40:43. She also ran in the Coach Bob Cole Memorial 5K Race in Sanford on July 14th, finishing 2nd in her age group with a time of 21:04. She celebrated her 49th birthday by taking her annual 22 mile run around Sanford Lake, between Sanford and Edenville.
Cindy an absolute sports fanatic, you can always see her roaming the Meridian athletic scene cheering on her boys; but she also carves out time to find ways to develop and mold other kids.
She’s also a coached basketball and soccer in the past, as well as track. She currently uses her free time to help coach Jr High and High School track at Sanford-Meridian Schools.
An on top of that, as a substitute teacher who is amazingly devoted her district, Cindy has volunteered at as part of the Sanford-Meridian School District’s Core Curriculum Development Committee to help advance the education opportunities of the school. She also takes her devoted teaching skills to church, where she also teaches religious studies at the St. Agnes Parish in Sanford.
