Hurdler Has a New Trip on Agenda : Preps: Shonna Bernard is eager to earn trip to Masters Meet this year after missing meet last year to visit Taiwan.

Shortly after the CIF Southern Section 4-A Division final last year, hurdler Shonna Bernard of Nogales High in La Puente had an important decision to make.

Bernard had finished second in the 300-meter low hurdles to earn a berth in the Masters Meet--the Southern Section’s state qualifying meet--the following week.

But that was also the same time the Nogales marching band was heading to Taiwan for an international band competition. Bernard plays the flute in the band.

“I wanted to go to the Masters Meet but everyone said, ‘This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to go (to Taiwan), so you really should go,’ ” Bernard said.

So Bernard opted to go with the band to Taiwan instead of the Masters Meet and admits she wasn’t enamored with the experience.

“I didn’t like it too much,” she said. “It was interesting, I’ll say that much. But I would never go there again. I think one trip told me everything I needed to know about (Taiwan), but I was glad I went.”

Bernard, 16, is happy that there are no conflicts to keep her from competing in the Masters Meet this year.

As a junior, Bernard is one of the Southern Section leaders in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. She has run the 100 hurdles in 14.58 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 43.97.

Nogales Coach Steve Hernandez said she is in a class by herself in the San Gabriel Valley.

“There’s nobody better in the hurdles in this area or many other places for that matter,” he said.

Added Jamie Sandoval, who coaches the Nobles in the sprints and hurdles: “She’s definitely a Division I prospect. She definitely has the talent. It’s just a case of putting it all together.”

Bernard’s development in the hurdles is impressive when you consider that she only started competing in the event as a freshman. In junior high, she had competed as a sprinter in the 100 and 200 meters.

“When I first came in, I was supposed to do the 100 and 200 because that’s what I did in junior high school,” he said. “But one day when I was a freshman the coach told me to stretch and then the next thing I know he said, ‘You’re a hurdler.’ ”

Bernard said she had second thoughts about competing in the event after she tripped over a hurdle in a dual meet against Bishop Amat as a freshman.

“I just fell and after that I didn’t want to be a hurdler anymore,” she said. “But everyone told me to keep trying and not to give up on myself, so that’s what I did.”

Bernard thought she had put the incident behind her, only to face a similar experience at the Northridge Relays last month. In fact, this time she was leading by about 20 yards approaching the final hurdle in the 300, but came down on the wrong foot and fell.

She wasn’t injured in the fall but Bernard said it provided her with a painful lesson in humility.

“I’ve never thought that I was better than anybody (else) but that really brought me back to reality,” she said. “That little fall helped me a lot. I think it helps to have a few falls while you’re doing well. Some people laugh at people when they fall over the hurdles, but when you know the experience you know that it’s not that easy and it can always happen to you if you don’t concentrate.”

Bernard said she was even more surprised that the fall happened in the 300, which has been her best distance since she started competing as a hurdler.

“It depends on what day it is,” Bernard said. “One day I’ll do well in the 300 and I’ll say that’s my best event, and then the next day I’ll do better in the 100 and that’s my best event. But I still like the 300 because if I fall behind I still have a chance to get it back.”

“The 300 is probably her best race of the two hurdles (events) but as of late she’s been better in the 100 and that’s because she’s been getting out to a faster start,” Sandoval said.

If Bernard has a weakness as a hurdler, she said it is undoubtedly her start.

“I used to be really, really bad out of the blocks and that’s the reason I couldn’t catch up in the 100,” she said. “But I’ve gotten a lot better. I still don’t get out of the blocks well but it’s getting better.”

She said she learned the importance of a fast start when she finished second in the 300 at the Arcadia Invitational Track Meet on April 13.

“When I finished second at Arcadia, I didn’t think it would affect me in the 300 until I went against Erin Blunt (of Escondido San Pasqual) and I fell behind and I couldn’t catch her. I guess it’s kind of a habit. In my mind I thought, ‘You can be slow at the start but you’ll always be there at the finish.’ But now I know it’s not always true.”

With improvement in her starting technique and increased work on weight training, Sandoval said Bernard has enormous potential to develop in the event.

“It’s really hard to tell how good she can become because of how much she can develop physically,” Sandoval said. “In the last two years she has really developed physically and her speed has also picked up as a result.”

Sandoval said he likes Bernard’s potential because of her tremendous work ethic.

“I’ve had her since she was a freshman and she’s always worked very hard,” he said. “I’ve been coaching for 11 years and probably of all the people I’ve had, she’s been the most pleasurable to work with.”

Hernandez said he also likes the fact that Bernard’s interest in school does not rest solely on track.

“She’s quite an athlete but she’s also a well-rounded person,” he said. “She’s not just an athlete. She plays in the band and she’s also a good student.”

Bernard has been playing the flute for about eight years. She has a twin sister, Michelle, who plays the clarinet in the band and also competes as a sprinter and long jumper on the track team.

She is also an above-average student and says a good education has always been important to her.

“Grades are a big thing for me because without the grades you can’t do anything,” she said. “My coaches tell me that and my father really stresses it. My dad says, ‘If you don’t get the grades, you can’t run track.’ And he knows how much I love track.”

With her success in the sport, Bernard says she is as serious about track as she used to be with the flute.

“At first I was doing it just for fun, kind of like the flute was for me at first,” she said. “But now I feel like I can go on in it and continue in college.”

Bernard can take a step in the right direction by reaching the Masters Meet in May at Cerritos College and this time she doesn’t have a band competition standing in her path.

“It’s very important to me that I make it this time,” she said. “So this time, when the meet comes around, I’m not planning to go anywhere else in the world.”