EDWARD LIN/ Daily Bruin With high-school experience in the
hurdles and long-jump, Michelle Perry was a
natural choice to be a heptathlete.
By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The weight room is almost empty as the clock creeps closer to 5
p.m. After finishing another day of practice, Michelle Perry gets
ready for her weight-lifting session.
Perry used to lift with a group of girls on the track team, but
because of her demanding schedule, she now usually lifts by
herself.
One of the few athletes in the room, Perry sets up her weights
and situates herself squarely behind the bar. Once she’s
finished getting ready, she can begin her interview.
“I’m listening,” she says.
Not having too much time in her day, she’d rather do
everything she has to at once than be on campus all day.
Perry’s ability to devote attention to a variety of tasks
is one of the reasons why she’s tied for first in the country
in the heptathlon.
The most rigorous and demanding track-and-field event out there,
the heptathlon includes seven events. On the first day, it is the
100-meter hurdles, the high jump, the shot put and the 200m dash.
The second day is comprised of the long jump, javelin throw and
800m competitions.
Because Perry competed in the 100m and 300m hurdles as well as
the long jump in high school, it was obvious to both Head Coach
Jeanette Bolden and former Head Coach Bob Kersee that Perry would
excel as a heptathlete.
But it hasn’t been sheer talent that got the senior to No.
1 in the heptathlon as well as No. 10 in the 400m hurdles and No.
11 in the 100m hurdles. She has dedicated herself to working and
improving her talent.
Perry, who has been running competitively since the fourth
grade, wasn’t recruited early on by UCLA because she
didn’t have top times. But after the persistence of
Perry’s mother, who stressed her daughter’s competitive
nature and love of winning, Bolden offered Perry a partial
scholarship. And even though there were full scholarship offers
from other schools, Perry decided to become a Bruin.
Having grown up watching such track and field talents such as
Gail Devers, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Bob Kersee on TV, Perry knew
from a young age that she wanted to be a professional
track-and-field athlete.
So when Bolden told Perry that she would be coached by a man
named Bob Kersee, Perry’s dream began to come true.
But Perry entered the UCLA track-and-field scene with raw talent
and didn’t really absorb her coaches’ advice.
“At first she would listen but she would kind of execute
what she thought was best in practice or a meet,” Bolden
said. “Sometimes you would tell her somethings to do and she
competes and does something totally different.”
Since then, Perry’s approach to track and field has
matured in conjunction with her own growth process.
Her goals, Perry explained between reps, have expanded from
doing what she could for her team to winning both conference and
national championships.
It has everything to do with her approach.
“She’s a competitor and now she’s starting to
become a technician,” said Kersee, who now volunteers
coaching the hurdles and the heptathlon. “In the past she
would just get out there and compete and she didn’t know how
she was doing it or why she was doing it, she was just out there
doing it. In the last couple of years, she’s understanding
how and now she understands the why.
“My belief is that those that know why can always beat
those that know how,” Kersee added.
Kersee is someone who knows how. Having coached such athletes as
Gail Devers, Joyner-Kersee (his wife) and Florence Griffith Joyner,
he has the experience to know whether or not an athlete is
capable.
According to Kersee, a heptathlete must have the “Four
Ds:” dedication, desire, discipline and drive.
And Perry embodies these.
Unlike most other track-and-field athletes, Perry must train for
seven different events. With previous experience as a hurdler,
sprinter and jumper, all she had to do was learn how to throw.
But it turned out to be harder than it looked.
“I didn’t realize how critical and technical the
throws were,” Perry said. “It’s harder to be a
thrower than a sprinter because sprinting takes a lot out of you
cardiovascularly but throwing takes a lot out of you
mentally.”
It was frustrating for her at first, and she questioned whether
it was really right for her, but she persevered.
“It feels a lot better now, though,” Perry said with
a laugh. “I can actually get in the ring and compete. Before
I was just in there not really knowing what was going on. I’m
just happy that (coach Kersee) was patient with me.”
For Kersee, it’s not just about patience. He has every day
of Perry’s season mapped out on his computer and knows what
she’s capable of.
When asked how Perry compares with the world-class athletes that
he has coached, his response was simple.
“She’s right in line with them,” Kersee said.
“She’s right in line for a great career if she wants
it.”
Perry’s opening score at the Mt. SAC heptathlon
competition over the weekend of April 19-20 was 5,657, fourth on
the UCLA all-time list.
“She’s probably the only athlete in the nation who
could do that,” Kersee continued. “She’s the only
one in college that could do what she just got through
doing.”
And looking back at where she started, it’s hard for
Bolden to believe how far Perry has come.
“No one would have thought that four years ago,”
Bolden said of Perry’s current national rankings.
“Michelle is a true example of someone who is patient and has
worked her way from the bottom up.”
It’s not just her coaches who can see her ability.
As Perry enters the weight room, junior teammate Bumni Ogunleye
is on her way out. Eager to give her input on Michelle, Ogunleye
offers her thoughts.
“Michelle inspires me everyday,” she said.
“She’s very strong-willed and she’s been through
a lot.”
It’s just another day, though, for Perry, who is on track
to become one of America’s top heptathletes.