Long road continues

Steve Virgen

There will be many thoughts racing through Annmarie Turpin’s mind

today. If she’s not too careful she might get too emotional. Who

could blame her after what she has been through?

Turpin, who tore her left anterior cruciate ligament two years

ago, will be UC Irvine’s one representative in the NCAA track and

field championships in Sacramento. She will compete in the heptathlon

today and Saturday.

“It’s been a long road, but fulfilling,” said Turpin, a junior for

UCI. “It’s been a progression of emotions, from picking up the

javelin for the first time, to being entered in my first heptathlon

to completing my first heptathlon to getting a better score. And now,

it’s been I’m glad to be back, but let’s get after it.”

Turpin will get after it in the 100-meter hurdles, the high jump,

shot put and 200 meters today. She will also compete in the long

jump, javelin throw and the 800 Saturday.

“It may be a little lonely,” Turpin said. “I’m not used to having

my season go this long. But I don’t feel pressure. I’m honored to be

able to represent the school. I’ll do the best that I can.”

Because of her knee injury, this will be just the fifth heptathlon

she will complete. Perhaps the most remarkable fact about Turpin’s

comeback is that she is not 100% yet.

In March of 2001, she injured her left knee. She had surgery April

13, and that’s when plans for her comeback began.

“Initially it was really hard, because you have so many

expectations and they all come crumbling in one step,” Turpin said.

“But I didn’t think for a second that I wouldn’t be able to make it

back.”

Turpin tabbed her comeback as, “a personal challenge,” and started

it with small goals and eventually started to raise the bar. Last

year, she won a Big West Conference title in the high jump and

finished fifth in the 400 hurdles, leaving her coaches to believe

that she could take on the heptathlon this season.

“I just took it day by day,” Turpin said. “I know that sounds

cliche but that’s the way you have to do it.”

This year, Turpin won the Big West title in the heptathlon,

leading to her qualification in the NCAA Championships. She posted

5,228 points to become the Big West champion at Cal State Northridge

May 15. Her effort ranks No. 4 in UCI history and is 20th of the 27

competitors who qualified for the NCAA meet.

Turpin, who starred at Simi Valley High, had always expected to

win Big West titles, yet the injury actually aided her in the

process, Ben Cesar, UCI’s associate head coach, said.

“For Annmarie, the injury was a blessing in disguise,” Cesar said.

“As a senior in high school, Annmarie was probably the best

all-around high school athlete in the state. She came in here as a

freshman, and in a sense naive, not really knowing the level of

Division I. She thought she would dominate and she did, but toward

the end of the season she became fatigued ... I don’t think she feels

at 100% yet because of the knee, but mentally her approach to the

sport has been better. The patience, where before she didn’t have

none, grew. She finally understood what it took to be a seven-event

athlete.”