Ex-Gopher advances to final with 'ugliest' jump

EUGENE, ORE. - Shani Marks' first evening at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials ended almost as soon as it began. With a single attempt Friday, the former Gopher set a personal record in the triple jump and led the qualifying for Sunday's final.

Marks, an Apple Valley native who lives in Brooklyn Park, and training partner Amanda Thieschafer were among 12 jumpers who advanced to the finals. Neither jumped perfectly, but both required only one chance to move on, allowing them to conserve energy. Marks jumped 47 feet, ¾ inch, more than a foot farther than No. 2 qualifier Toni Smith, and Thieschafer's mark of 45-1 ¾ was the sixth best of the qualifying round at Hayward Field.

Both of them will have the chance to make the Olympic team Sunday. The top three triple jumpers in the finals, which start at 12:25 p.m. Central time, will go to Beijing.

"My coach said that was the ugliest 14.34 [meter jump] he'd ever seen," Marks said with a laugh. "It was not a good jump. It kind of surprised me; when I walked away, I was sure it was a qualifying mark, but I had no idea it was a personal record.

"I expected to be one and done, which I wanted to do so I didn't waste any energy. Everything went according to plan."

With parents Gloria and Curtis Marks in the stands, Marks felt just the right amount of nervous excitement Friday. She and Thieschafer, of Melrose, arrived in Eugene on Wednesday and have been staying in a hotel with only a few other athletes. That, she said, allowed them to relax and prepare for the trials in a quiet environment.

They had to jump 44-7 1/2 to automatically move to the finals. Marks didn't want to foul on her first jump and hesitated a bit just before she hit the takeoff board. What her jump lacked in beauty, it made up in length. Her best mark had been 46-11, set just recently.

"Oh, yeah," she said when asked if she is at a career peak. "We had a great plan this year from Michael [Eskind, their coach], and it's been steady progress. We got the first jitters out today, and we're both hoping to jump well Sunday."

Gophers heptathlete Liz Roehrig entered the trials with lesser expectations but had a fine day. The All-America is in sixth place with 3,598 points after the first four events of the heptathlon.

Roehrig won her heat of the 200-meter run in a time of 24.36 seconds to finish the first day of heptathlon competition. Despite some trouble with the high jump, when she missed two early attempts, she was happy with her trials debut.