She’s on the Fast Track to Success : U.S. championships: Cal State L.A. senior hurdler Marsha Guialdo carries high hopes with her to Oregon event.

Marsha Guialdo is hoping to jump on the fast track to international success.

Guialdo, a senior at Cal State Los Angeles, will compete today in the USA/Mobil Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Guialdo is the NCAA Division II champion in 100- and 400-meter hurdles, and she intends to parlay that success into a spot on the U.S. team for this summer’s World Championships in Germany.

“I’m going to win,” said Guialdo, who was born in Trinidad but grew up in New York. “It’s going to come down to who wants it more, and I don’t think anyone wants it as bad as me.”

Guialdo, 22, will compete only in the 100 hurdles against a field that includes Olympic sprint gold medalist Gail Devers and several other world-class hurdlers. The top three finishers make the team for the World Championships. Others will qualify for the World University Games and the Sports Festival.

“When I go to a race I don’t think about this person or that person,” Guialdo said. “Because when I race, I don’t think anyone can beat me.”

The 5-foot-5 Guialdo was nearly unbeatable this past college season, which she capped with an extraordinary performance at the Division II championships at Abilene, Tex.

Guialdo won the 400 hurdles in 57.43 seconds, which tied the Division II record, then won the 100 hurdles in a wind-aided 12.89, the second-fastest time in the United States under any condition this year.

“Marsha is trying to work her way into the upper levels, and she sort of took a step in that direction this year,” said Greg Ryan, women’s track coach at Cal State L.A. “She’s been awfully fast this year.”

Guialdo, an Alhambra resident, has been participating in track since she was 7. Her mother, an outstanding junior hurdler in Trinidad, used to set up makeshift high jump and long jump areas for Marsha and her sister after the family moved to New York when Marsha was 5.

Guialdo ran the 400 and 400 hurdles at DeWitt Clinton High in New York. She wanted to compete for Florida or Texas in college, but was advised to attend Odessa (Tex.) Junior College before transferring to a Division I school.

Guialdo spent a year at Odessa before she decided a change of scenery was in order.

“After a year in Odessa, I didn’t care about going Division I anymore,” Guialdo said. “I just wanted to get out of there.”

Guialdo came to California to compete in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in 1989. Her performance was not memorable, but the San Gabriel Mountains left an indelible impression on a woman who had grown up in the Bronx.

“I looked at those mountains and said, ‘Wow! This is where I want to go,’ ” Guialdo said.

James Gilkes, a former NCAA champion from USC who worked with Mt. SAC athletes, suggested that Guialdo try the 100 hurdles. She was reluctant at first, but eventually began to warm to the shorter distance and won the community college state championship in 1990.

Last year, injuries hampered her progress at Cal State L.A., but she still finished 10th at the U.S. Olympic trials.

“A lot of the other competitors were looking at me like, ‘Where did she come from,’ ” Guialdo said. “I beat some big names there. I was kind of shocked myself.”

Guialdo is no longer a mystery. Her time at the Division II championships speaks for itself.

“They know who I am now,” Guialdo said. “They’re saying, ‘She’s going to sneak up on us. Watch out for her.’ ”

Guialdo’s goal is to make the team for the World Championships, but regardless of her finish this weekend, she will compete on the European track circuit this summer.

She is six classes short of completing her degree in broadcasting, and she is contemplating pursuing an advanced degree. Her long-range goal is the 1996 Olympics at Atlanta.

“It takes a while to really become established and accomplished in an event,” Guialdo said. “Ninety-six is going to be my year. And it’s coming up pretty quick.”