James Isaac Wendell (September 3, 1890 – November 22, 1958) was an American athlete who won the silver medal competed in the 110 m hurdles at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

. After retiring from competitions, Wendell had a successful career in education. He was a master of English and assistant track coach at

The Hill School The Hill School (commonly known as The Hill) is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO). ...

(1913–1928), a boarding school in

Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the incorporation as a borough in 1815. In 1888 ...

, where he was subsequently named headmaster (1928–1952). A teammate of his on the 1912 Olympic Team, General

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

, later sent his son to The Hill while Wendell was headmaster. During Wendell's tenure as headmaster Hill graduate William ("Bill") Franklin Porter II, class of 1944, won a gold medal in the 110-meters hurdles at the 1948 Summer Olympics.James Wendell
. Sports Reference In 2008, Wendell was named to

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

's Athletic Hall of Fame. He graduated from the school in 1913, having broken several track and field records in his time at the school.

References

1890 births 1958 deaths Wesleyan University alumni American male hurdlers Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics The Hill School faculty American school principals 20th-century American educators {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub