Soaring toward Beijing

EUGENE, ORE. - When Curtis and Gloria Marks were offered trackside seats to watch their daughter, Shani, compete in the triple jump Sunday, they politely declined. "I need to be up here where I can throw up," Gloria said, with a hint of seriousness hiding under her laugh.

She didn't know Shani felt just as anxious. After four years of preparation, with her moment finally upon her at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, Shani's nerves buzzed fiercely under the canopy at Hayward Field. On her first attempt of the finals, she botched her approach and ran through the pit.

The third try, though, proved to be the charm that carried her to the trials championship and her first Olympic team. Marks soared 47 feet, 2¼ inches, a personal best and the third-longest jump ever by a U.S. woman. She will be joined in Beijing by Erica McLain, who finished third with a jump of 45-9¾. Second-place finisher Shakeema Welsch (46-10) did not make the Olympic team because she has not achieved the "A" standard distance required to compete in Beijing.

Marks' training partner, Amanda Thieschafer of Melrose, finished fifth with a distance of 45-5.

"It hasn't quite sunk in," said Marks, whose jump set a Hayward Field record. "I'm overwhelmed, and I'm really, really excited.

"I was so nervous for my first jump, my heart was beating out of my chest. But I knew I would pull it out. This has been my goal for five years, and I'm just so thankful."

Marks, 27, was a state champ at Apple Valley, a five-time Big Ten champion for the Gophers and has won four U.S. titles in the triple jump. The Brooklyn Park resident finished fourth in the 2004 Olympic trials, missing the Olympic team by one spot.

She has performed exceptionally well this season, bettering her personal record several times. Marks did so again Sunday despite feeling far more nervous than she did in Friday's qualifying round. As she and Thieschafer warmed up on the runway on an uncomfortably hot, 88-degree day, her parents were joined by Gophers coaches Matt Bingle and Gary Wilson, Shani's godmother, Shirley Gordon, and U.S. record-holder Tiombe Hurd, who could not compete because of injury.

Gloria Marks took photos from the stands, while her husband checked out the trackside seats and declared them too close for comfort. "I think I'm hyperventilating," he said. When Shani fouled on the first attempt, the group quietly kept track of the other jumpers' distances and waited.

Welsch and McLain topped the field in the early going. Marks leapt 45-1¾ on her second try and cracked a smile. On her third, as soon as her feet hit the sand, her family and friends jumped from their seats and cheered what they knew was a great mark.

"It didn't feel like 47 feet, but I'll take it," Marks said. "I'm not used to this weather, and I felt drained and tired and had a lot of nerves going on. It was definitely a fight out there on every jump."

Gloria began text-messaging those who weren't there, including Shani's husband, Ron Johnson, who plays for the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League. She quickly got a reply: "That's awesome." Curtis heaved a sigh and shook the hands of strangers in adjacent seats who had been swept up in the Marks' fervor. "Now I can enjoy the meet," he said.

When the competition ended, Marks, McLain and Welsch carried small American flags on a victory lap around the track. Marks' entourage met her at the end, and she wiped tears from her eyes as they enveloped her in hugs.

"She's committed the last four years to this," Bingle said. "This is huge for her, for the university, for the state of Minnesota. She put in the work every day, in the cold and the wind. She deserves it."

Curtis could find no words to describe his feelings, but Gloria had a few. "We knew she could make it," she said. "It was my prayer that she would. To see how far she's come, I can't believe how blessed she is."

Marks will come home to Minnesota for a short break before heading to Europe for some pre-Olympic competition. No American woman has made the finals of the triple jump in the Olympics, giving Marks another challenge.

"I've still got more in me," said Marks, who is 2¾ inches short of Hurd's U.S. record of 47-5. "It's not over."