Putting Up Bigger Numbers

It’s amazing what a disappointing performance in the biggest competition of one’s life can do for a athlete’s work ethic.

Just ask senior Beth Burton of Cal State Northridge.

Burton entered last year’s NCAA outdoor track and field championships with a school-record best of 52 feet 3 1/4 inches in the shotput. But a season of too many incomplete workouts finally caught up with her and she placed 20th with a paltry effort of 39-2 1/2.

“I was extremely upset about that,” Northridge weight-events Coach Candy Roberts said. “It was just completely unthinkable to me that we would crash and burn after being at such a high level all year.”

Said Burton: “I was very disappointed. It was the end of a long season and I was just worn out.”

The fiery Roberts, the 1994 Pacific 10 Conference champion in the women’s discus for UCLA, was so upset with Burton’s performance that she chose not to analyze it with her. She simply told her protege to go home to Downey for the summer and come back in the fall with a solid set of goals.

Burton, who will compete in the Big Sky Conference indoor championships in Flagstaff, Ariz., today and Saturday, did as she was told. She also returned with a new attitude.

As the veteran in a Northridge women’s program that includes fifth-year senior Scia Maumausolo, who spent four years as a slugging star on the Matador softball team, and freshmen Cheree Hicks, Christina Magana and Christina Tolson, Burton has led by example.

She no longer cuts workouts short because she’s tired and she pays attention to all the little details in practice that can add up to big performances in meets.

“I just feel like it’s my job to set a good example for the new girls,” Burton said. “That means staying out there for four hours, if necessary, and doing all the little things. Before, I’d get tired and I’d call it a day. Now I finish the workout no matter what it takes.”

Roberts and Don Strametz, Northridge’s head coach, have noticed the difference.

Strametz says Burton is more focused. Roberts says her determination in practice sets the pace for the rest of Northridge’s throwers.

Best of all, Burton’s performances have gone through the roof since the start of the indoor season. After posting marks of 57-11 3/4 in the weight and 45-8 1/2 in the shotput in a season opener Jan. 25, she improved to 61-0 1/4 and 49-4 1/4 on Feb. 1 and to 63-6 3/4 and 49-7 1/2 last Saturday.

Her best effort in the weight throw exceeded the automatic qualifying standard of 62-4 for the NCAA indoor championships in Indianapolis, March 7-8.

Burton placed eighth in the weight in last year’s NCAA indoor meet with a then-school record of 59-4. She figures she is capable of throwing six or seven feet further.

“Last year taught me that I just need to relax and throw in the meets,” she said. “If I do that, the big marks will come. Last year, I worried too much about hitting certain marks in certain meets. This year, I know I’ve put in the work so it’s just a matter of letting it happen.”