St. Charles East Grad, College Track Standout Wins CCIW Award

St. Charles East grad Anna Martines has been selected as the winner of the Jack Swartz Award in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin for the 2015-16 winter athletic season.

Martines, a standout hurdler/sprinter and a senior at Augustana, was chosen as the female recipient of the award while Dan Augustana, a graduate from Minooka High School, was selected as the male recipient for the award, according to a press release from Augustana College.

The Jack Swartz Award is given to one male and one female athlete at the end of each athletic season. The honor is given by the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin and each of the eight schools in the league are allowed to pick their own representatives.

The only requirement is that the winners must earn a varsity letter in his/her sport and have a grade point average of at least 3.50. The award is named after the late Jack Swartz, who served as the Commissioner of the CCIW until his death in 1998.

Martines has enjoyed quite a career as a sprinter/hurdler for the Vikings. She is a two-time team captain who was voted the team's Most Valuable Performer during her junior season. She has been a place winner in the CCIW championships eight times during her career indoors and eight times outdoors, according to a press release from Augustana College.

Her best finish in the CCIW was a second place finish in the 2015 outdoor season in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:03.43. She then qualified for the NCAA championship meet with a time of 1:01.84 in the Augustana Midwest Twilight Qualifier meet on May 15, 2015. That time is good for second best ever in Augustana's track and field history.

During the past indoor season Martines was fifth in the CCIW Indoor Championships as a member of the 4x400 relay and was seventh in the 60 hurdles in :09.74.

A year ago Martines was the CCIW's "Athlete of the Week" on March 24 and her teammates voted her the Erica Vortman Spirit Award winner. In 2013 she was the MVP – Freshman in indoor and outdoor track & field.

She served as a special events intern for the Quad City Chamber of Commerce beginning in April of 2015. She currently works for the Augustana clinical internship program for the Center for Speech, Language and hearing. Martines is also on the executive board of the Office of Student Life and she serves as both a student-athlete recruiting coordinator and a peer leadership mentor.

Anna, the daughter of Bob and Cheryl Martines of St. Charles, carries a 3.66 grade point average and is a communication sciences and disorders major at Augustana.