Perry competes in heptathlon, places second

By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

EUGENE, Ore. “”mdash; Senior Michelle Perry put on her hooded
UCLA sweatshirt in between attempts in the heptathlon high jump and
walked over to the edge of the field. She looked across the lanes
of the track for instruction from her coach, Bob Kersee.

At her opening height, Perry had missed her first two attempts,
but after the exchange, she returned to the high jump area and
proceeded to clear 4-feet-11 3/4 inches.

Perry went on to set a personal record in the heptathlon high
jump at 5-4 1/2, just minutes before she was to compete in the
finals of the 400-meter hurdle.

And her day was just getting underway.

Competing in 11 events overall, Perry’s week went
something like this: Wednesday, 400-meter hurdles semi-finals, 5:40
p.m. Thursday: anchor-leg of the 4 x 400m hurdles, 6:45 p.m.
Friday: heptathlon 100m hurdles, 2 p.m., heptathlon high jump 3
p.m., 400m hurdles finals 5:20 p.m., heptathlon shot put 6:15 p.m.,
heptathlon 200m 7:40 p.m. Saturday: heptathlon long jump 2 p.m.,
heptathlon javelin 3:15 p.m., heptathlon 800m 5 p.m. and 4 x 400m
relay 7:40 p.m.

Perry said words of encouragement from Kersee got her through
the demanding final days of competition.

“He would remind me that I had jumped higher or thrown
farther in practice,” Perry said. “He encouraged me and
reminded me of what I can do.”

And Kersee should know. Having coached his wife Jackie Joyner
Kersee to World and American records as well as a two Olympic gold
medals, Kersee had 20 years of experience coming into the NCAA
championships to help Perry make it through.

“My main job was to help in the technical area and also to
keep her spirits up,” he said. “In the heptathlon, you
can’t get too up or down.”

Not only did Perry have to juggle the demands of the seven
heptathlon events, she also competed in both the semi-final and
final rounds of the 400m hurdles and 4 x 400m relay, scoring for
her team in all three events.

The heptathlon competition came down to the final event as Perry
sat in third, just 10 points behind San Diego State’s Aja
Frary. Perry needed to finish at least two seconds ahead of Frary
to claim second.

Perry gutted it out in the 800m, setting an eight-second PR at
2:14.36.

After the event, Perry entered the interview tent with a smile
on her face.

In only her second heptathlon ever, Perry had taken home second
with a total score of 5,759 points with three top-three marks in
heptathlon events, in the 100m hurdles, 200m and 800m events.

But she still had one event to go.

When asked if she would choose not to run in the 4 x 400m, there
was no doubt in her reply.

“That’s not me at all,” Perry said. “I
came here to win a championship, and I will run till the
wire.”

But she did acknowledge the toll her competition had taken.

“I was a little bit tired, but when you’re doing 11
events, when you get to event ten, you’re not the same person
or the same athlete that you are at event one,” Perry
said.

But she finished off her career as a Bruin like a champion –
running that 11th event.

And according to Kersee, she never complained once.

“She has tremendous character and heart,” Kersee
said. “I hope the freshmen can see the way she fought out
there because if they can learn from her, they have a shot at a
national title.”

UCLA Head Coach Jeanette Bolden referred to Perry as the MVP of
the meet and USC Head Coach said she is simply a warrior.

Perry graduates this year, but she leaves behind an example of
determination for the younger Bruins to learn from.

Ңbull;Ӣbull;Ӣbull;

Perry’s heptathlon scores after day one were: 100m hurdles
(13.60), high jump ( 5-04 1/2), shot put (37-09 1/4) and 200m
(23.99) for 3430 points. Perry’s Saturday marks were: long
jump (19-2), javelin (124-2) and 800m (2:14.36) for a two-day total
of 5,759 points.