Hayden High Grad Finds Rowing Success at Gonzaga University

“You just have to prove yourself,” Jenna Kleckler said. “Luckily, I did.”

It’s a simple sentence, but it carries the weight of a pivot that most people in Hayden wouldn’t have guessed. Kleckler didn’t grow up dreaming of rowing for a Division I college program. She grew up dreaming of being an athlete, period. And in a town like Hayden, that usually means volleyball courts, basketball gyms, and the Friday night lights of local rivalries.

“I didn’t even know it was a thing, honestly,” Kleckler said of rowing.

Now, she’s a student-athlete at Gonzaga University, trading the familiar rhythms of Western Slope athletics for early mornings on the water and the grueling pace of NCAA competition. But the transition wasn’t about abandoning her roots; it was about finding a new way to apply the discipline she built right here in the valley.

Kleckler graduated from Hayden High School in 2024. Like many of her peers, she was deep in the local sports ecosystem. She ran Girls on the Run, showed horses in the summer, and played volleyball and track. Her older brother, Andrew, competed in high school sports, and her father was an athlete in college. Sports weren’t just a hobby; they were an identity.

When graduation approached, Kleckler faced a common anxiety for small-town athletes: the fear that leaving home meant leaving the game behind.

“The thought of not doing athletics in college was really hard for me,” she said.

She wanted to leave Colorado. She wanted the experience of a city and a school that felt distinct from the tight-knit community of Hayden. Gonzaga appealed to her for those reasons — its size, its academic reputation, and its competitive athletics. But she didn’t expect to be noticed by a major program. Coming from a small school, visibility is often a hurdle.

Then came an email.

Gonzaga’s rowing coaches were looking for potential walk-ons. They sent out a questionnaire asking for athletic background, height, and experience. Kleckler filled it out. The coaches invited her to try out.

The process was brutal and brief. It lasted about 10 days. Kleckler estimated that 30 to 40 students competed for just eight rowing spots and two coxswain positions. The selection process included fitness tests, rowing machine work, and strength assessments.

It seemed like an impossible odds game. But Kleckler had a secret weapon that had nothing to do with rowing technique: strength. She had been lifting weights since eighth grade, often alongside her brother. That foundational strength, built in Hayden weight rooms, translated directly to the ergometer tests at Gonzaga.

“You just have to prove yourself,” she said.

The result was a spot on the team. For the people back in Hayden, it’s a reminder that a hometown story doesn’t end when a student leaves. It simply finds a new pathway. Kleckler’s journey from the horse shows of the Grand Valley to the rowing shells of the Pacific Northwest shows that the discipline instilled in us here — early mornings, hard work, showing up when it’s inconvenient, transcends the specific sport.

She didn’t set out to be a rower. She set out to be an athlete. And when the opportunity knocked, she was ready to answer.

“The numbers back that up,” Kleckler noted, referring to the sheer volume of competition she faced to secure one of those eight spots.

It’s a lesson for any young athlete in the valley who feels they’ve maxed out their options. The path doesn’t have to be linear. It doesn’t have to be the sport you played in high school. It just has to be something you’re willing to prove yourself in.

As Kleckler looks toward the rest of her collegiate career, she’s not looking back at what she left behind in Hayden. She’s looking at what she’s built.

“I found my rhythm,” she said.