{{Short description|American high jumper and pentathlete (1943–2019)}} {{Infobox person | name = Ann Roniger | image = AnnRoniger1957.png | alt = A young white woman outdoors; her short dark hair is in motion, suggesting that she is running. | caption = Ann Roniger, from a 1957 publication. | birth_name = Martha Ann Roniger | birth_date = February 13, 1943 | birth_place = Manhattan, Kansas, US | death_date = June 9, 2019 | death_place = Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US | other_names = Ann Roniger Hussong (after 1962) | occupation = Educator | years_active = | known_for = Penthathlete | notable_works = }}
'''Ann Roniger''' (February 13, 1943 – June 9, 2019), later '''Ann Roniger Hussong''', was an American athlete, a high jumper and pentathlete.
==Early life== Martha Ann Roniger was born in Manhattan, Kansas, the daughter of Pascal Allen Roniger and Martha Sharer Roniger. She was a member of 4-H. Her high school in Elmdale, Kansas had no track team, so her father and brother built some practice equipment on the farm, and Roniger trained in nearby Emporia.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.councilgroverepublican.com/obituaries/dies-sunday-1|title=Dies Sunday|date=2019-06-14|website=Council Grove Republican|language=en|access-date=2019-12-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41122786/fran_welch_dies/|title=Fran Welch Dies|date=1970-06-19|work=Council Grove Republican|access-date=2019-12-27|pages=1|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Ann Roniger attended Colorado State University<ref name=":1" /> in Fort Collins for one year, then transferred to the University of Hawaiʻi, on a full athletic scholarship.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41122560/untitled_news_item/|title=Untitled news item|date=1961-08-23|work=Council Grove Republican|access-date=2019-12-27|pages=3|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2001/Aug/26/sp/sp03a.html|title=The roots of an athletic revolution|last=Miller|first=Ann|date=August 26, 2001|website=The Honolulu Advertiser|access-date=2019-12-27}}</ref>
==Career== In 1956, Roniger broke the national standing broad jump record, and tied the National Junior Olympic record for the 50-year dash.<ref name=":2" /> From 1957 to 1959, as a teenager in Elmdale, Kansas, Roniger was three-time Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) women's pentathlon national champion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.si.com/vault/1957/10/14/605448/these-faces-in-the-crowd|title=These Faces in the Crowd|last=Phillips|first=Harry|date=October 14, 1957|website=Sports Illustrated Vault|language=en|access-date=2019-12-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.si.com/vault/1958/09/15/568789/faces-in-the-crowd|title=Faces in the Crowd|last=Phillips|first=Harry|date=September 15, 1958|website=Sports Illustratred Vault|language=en|access-date=2019-12-26}}</ref> Her 1957 win was considered especially notable, because she "had never competed previously in the shotput, hurdles, or high jump", three of the component events.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/10/06/91167053.html?pageNumber=212|title=Ann Roniger First in U.S. Pentathlon|date=October 6, 1957|website=The New York Times|language=en|access-date=2019-12-26}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|date=October 1957|title=Wins Natl. Track Honors|url=https://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/19323/KSUL0003KS4H1957v003n010a.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|journal=Kansas 4-H Journal|pages=14}}</ref> She was featured in ''Sports Illustrated'' for her accomplishment.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41123755/more_recognition/|title=More Recognition|date=1957-10-11|work=The Emporia Gazette|access-date=2019-12-27|pages=1|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1958,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41123036/penthathlon_title_on_line_monday/|title=Penthathlon Title on Line Monday|date=1958-08-27|work=The Parsons Sun|access-date=2019-12-27|pages=10|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> she won three events, set two Ozark regional records,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41123576/ann_roniger_sets_2_ozark_records_wins/|title=Ann Roniger Sets 2 Ozark Records, Wins 3 Events|date=1958-06-15|work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|access-date=2019-12-27|pages=71|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and finished with the highest total points across the five pentathlon events. In 1959 she was included in the All-America Women's Track and Field Team.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vvrwcB3DeEwC&q=Ann+Roniger&pg=PA385|title=American Women's Track and Field: A History, 1895 Through 1980|last=Tricard|first=Louise Mead|date=1996-01-01|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-0219-9|pages=385, 401|language=en}}</ref>
She continued competing as an athlete in college at Colorado State University, where she was a member of the school's first women's track and field team, along with sprinter Lillian Greene-Chamberlain, high jumper Ann Marie Flynn, and Rose Melanchuk.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://csurams.com/news/2012/2/6/Where_are_you_now_Lillian_Greene_Chamberlain.aspx|title=Where are you now, Lillian Greene-Chamberlain|last=Hirn|first=John|date=February 6, 2012|website=Colorado State University Athletics|language=en|access-date=2019-12-27}}</ref> She aspired to a place on the American team for the 1960 Summer Olympics,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41122374/monday_club_eyes_olympics/|title=Monday Club Eyes Olympics|date=1960-01-07|work=Garden City Telegram|access-date=2019-12-27|pages=5|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41122718/olympic_laurels/|title=Olympic Laurels|date=1957-12-19|work=Haskell News|access-date=2019-12-27|pages=5}}</ref> but failed to qualify.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41123115/ann_roniger_not_on_olympic_team/|title=Ann Roniger Not On Olympic Team|date=1960-07-18|work=The Emporia Gazette|access-date=2019-12-27|pages=7|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1961 she transferred to the University of Hawaii, where she continued as a track athlete.<ref name=":3" /> In 1962, she set a state women's high jump record at Hawaii's Cooke Field.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41123268/u_s_record_set_by_leah_bennett/|title=U. S. Record Set by Leah Bennett|date=1962-01-15|work=The Honolulu Advertiser|access-date=2019-12-27|pages=43|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
In adulthood, Hussong was a health science teacher at a Kansas high school for 25 years. When she retired to Oklahoma, she became a professional organizer.<ref name=":0" />
==Personal life== Ann Roniger married Bill Hussong in 1962. They had three children, William, Shawn, and Stephanie. She died in 2019, aged 76 years, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.<ref name=":0" />
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Subject bar|portal1=Biography|portal2=|portal3=}} {{Footer US NC Heptathlon Women}}{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roniger, Ann}} Category:1943 births Category:2019 deaths Category:People from Manhattan, Kansas Category:American pentathletes Category:Colorado State University alumni Category:Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine athletes Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1959 Pan American Games Category:Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States Category:American women high jumpers Category:20th-century American sportswomen