Edwards Stretching Her Track Career

Popi Edwards, who has extended her athletic career at UC Irvine about as far as humanly possible, is looking for a few more weeks of college life.

Edwards, a former Anteater volleyball player, has one thing left to accomplish in track and field: reaching the NCAA championships. Because this weekend’s Big West Conference championships at Irvine is her last chance, Edwards has stepped up her training for the 100- and 200-meter races.

Plyametrics.

“It’s a way to stretch your muscles,” Edwards said.

The pool.

“You run in the water.”

Extra sprints.

“You go as fast as you can. Then do it again.”

Sleep.

“That’s self-explanatory.”

Edwards has condensed four years of track training into 1 1/2 years. She spent four seasons setting records for the Irvine volleyball team, but wasn’t ready to end her collegiate career when her eligibility expired. Edwards shifted her focus to track, joining the team in January, 1996.

“It was a way to stay healthy and a way to stay competitive,” Edwards said.

Success has been the byproduct.

This season, Edwards has the conference’s second-fastest time in the 100 (11.91 seconds) and third-fastest in the 200 (24.50). The NCAA automatic qualifying times are 11.35 in the 100 and 23.10 in the 200. The provisional times are 11.60 in the 100 and 23.70 in the 200.

Both are within reach, according to UCI Coach Vince O’Boyle.

“This is really the first year she has had a chance to work with a coach,” O’Boyle said. “[Assistant coach] Gwen Loud has made a big difference. Popi understands there is more to this than just going out and running.”

Edwards competed in track until her junior year at Long Beach Poly. But she was stretched thin, splitting time between volleyball, club volleyball and track. There was an obvious reward to concentrating on volleyball: a scholarship.

She ended up setting Anteater career records in kills, attack attempts and digs. Edwards was also a three-time all-conference selection. Irvine was 24-48 in conference play during her four seasons.

Toward the end, Edwards was being pushed--not pulled--into track. Merja Connolly, then an Irvine assistant volleyball coach, encouraged her to go out for the team.

“In volleyball, a lot is determined by how your teammates play,” said Connolly, now the head volleyball coach. “She is such a great athlete that I felt she should explore the individual side more.”

Edwards picked up track following the winter break last year. The change in workouts was difficult at first, but her athletic ability was apparent. All she needed was some coaching on technique.

Edwards finished third in the 100 and fifth in the 200 at the 1996 conference championships. This season, she has higher aspirations.

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New rivals: A year ago, hurdler Skye Greene had a friendly rivalry with Long Beach State’s Le’Gretta Hinds.

Hinds is gone, but another 49er hurdler has stepped up to fill that competitive void. Green and Asa Karlsson have gone head-to-head six times in the 400 hurdles this season, with Karlsson finishing ahead of Green in five races.

The competition has been close in the 400 and 100. On March 15, it was Green winning by .07 of a second in the 100. On May 3, Karlsson edged Green by .22 of a second in the 400 hurdles.

Green finally beat Karlsson in the 400 hurdles two weeks ago in the Steve Scott Invitational.

“She hugged me after the race,” Green said. “It’s been nice running against her. I’ve been going against a Long Beach hurdler the last four years. This year was no different.”

Green may be peaking at the right time. She has broken her school record in the 400 hurdles four times this season, including at each of her last two meets.

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The Big West championships will be the official reopening of Irvine’s track/soccer stadium. The school has invested $800,000 in its stadium, which includes a baby-blue polyurethane track.

“I think people are going to be surprised,” said O’Boyle, the unofficial foreman on the project. “This track is going to be fast.”

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Holiday Molway was a double winner at the conference championships last season, finishing first in the 800 and 1,500. While she lowered her times in both this year, including shaving nearly 16 seconds in the 1,500, she will face tough competition. Molway enters the meet with the conference’s fourth-best time in the 1,500 (4:32.32) and seventh-best time in the 800 (2:12.79).

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All is well in the UCI women’s basketball program. Former Anteater assistant Mark Adams is coach. The players seem at peace with the hiring. And guard Megan Stafford has a pierced tongue.

Stafford, a freshman, had a pierced eyebrow last fall. “That’s just Megan,” Adams said. “She does this stuff for the reaction.”

Anteater notes

Jason Levy, an assistant with the men’s basketball team last season, has been hired as an assistant at Portland. . . . Kristen Borland has been hired as an assistant coach with the women’s soccer team. Borland, who played for Anteater Coach Marine Cano in the Olympic Development League, was a four-year starter at UC Santa Barbara.

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Coming Attractions

Here’s a look at key events this week for UC Irvine:

* Track and field plays host to the Big West Conference championships Friday and Saturday. The first events begin at 9 a.m. both days at the UC Irvine track stadium.