Minnesota highschool swimming phenom turned Texas award-winner

Nearly 40 years after receiving a level in biochemistry from the University of Texas, Kirsten Wengler Burton acquired a telephone message from her alma mater saying it had questions on her educational document.

Wondering what might have come up so lengthy after she acquired her diploma, she known as again the subsequent day.

Wengler Burton was linked to Chris del Conte, Texas’ vice chairman and athletics director, who knowledgeable her of the actual motive for the decision: She was going to be inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor.

“I was really surprised,” stated Wengler Burton, who lives in Wayzata. “I was taken aback and beyond honored.”

Her collegiate honor was a shock. Her success was not.

Before she turned Kirsten Wengler Burton, she was Kirsten Wengler, dominant Minnesota highschool swimmer. She received eight particular person state championships, and her college, Hopkins Lindbergh, received two state titles, in 1978 and 1979. Between her freshman and senior years, she by no means misplaced a person race and the Flyers by no means misplaced a twin meet. She was the primary to earn six letters in a single sport in class historical past.

She was coached there by Elmer Luke, who’s within the Hall of Fame of nearly each college or affiliation he touched. Luke died in 2015.

Wengler Burton acknowledges his contribution to her success.