Finishing Second Is No Prize to Burrell

For many athletes competing in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials at Cal State Sacramento, making the team is the ultimate goal.

It doesn’t matter if they finish first, second or third as long as they make the team.

Shelia Burrell doesn’t agree with that attitude.

Burrell, a former Reseda resident who trained under Cal State Northridge assistant coach Jeff McAuley in 1998 and ‘99, wanted to win the heptathlon Saturday.

That’s why she ran the first lap of the 800 meters in a sizzling 58.68 seconds before finishing in 2:11.34 to finish four points behind first-place DeDee Nathan in the final standings of the two-day, seven-event endeavor.

“I was running to win,” said Burrell, who totaled 6,339 points to qualify for the Olympics. “You’ve always got to go for it. I always try to leave it on the track.”

Burrell, who was in fourth place after the first four events Friday, trailed Nathan by 75 points entering the 800 after leaping 20-7 1/4 in the long jump and throwing the javelin 160-11. But she knew she could make up the difference if she could beat Nathan by 5 1/2 seconds in the 800.

She had the required lead after the first 600 meters, but the fast pace took a toll on her in the final straightaway and she finished 4.99 seconds ahead of Nathan.

“I happened to go out a little too fast in the 400,” Burrell said. “But I held on the best I could and ran 2:11 and lost by four points. Four points is a lean at the line in the sprints.”

Burrell’s performance continued a comeback that started in 1998. She won her first national title last year and scored a career-best 6,422 points to finish fourth in the prestigious Gotzis meet in Austria last month.

“This is like a big deal to me because I’ve overcome so much,” Burrell said. “To get to this point is like, ‘Thank you, God.’ ”

The fast-talking, high-strung Burrell retired from track after finishing 14th in the 1996 Olympic trials, but she met McAuley in 1998 while working as a personal trainer.

“I needed someone to believe in me and he did,” Burrell said. “That was very important.”

Burrell totaled a wind-aided 6,294 points in her first season under McAuley in 1998 before finishing first in the USA Track & Field championships and second in the Pan American Games last year.

She moved to Manhattan, Kan., before the start of the season because she wanted to work with Kansas State Coach Cliff Rovelto, particularly in the high jump.

She had struggled in that event, and did so again Friday, but there are fewer distractions in Kansas than in Southern California.

“I had a cell phone and a pager and I was always running around,” Burrell said. “Now, if you want to reach me, you can call me at home and I’m always there.”

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Frances Santin of Cal State Northridge continued her superb sophomore season in the 400 low hurdles by running a career best of 56.67 to finish fifth in her first-round heat and advance to today’s semifinals.

Santin, a 1998 graduate of Taft High, ran 60.03 in the lows last year while sitting out her freshman season at Northridge because she was academically ineligible.