Jesse Carlin is a fast learner.
Many runners spend most of their careers training for a specific event. She picked one up in about two weeks.
By placing third in the 800-meters at the NCAA Regionals in Gainesville, Fla., on Sunday with a time of 2:06.29, the rising senior extended Penn's four-year streak of sending at least one athlete to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Carlin will be competing with the top runners in the nation in Sacramento, Ca., next weekend.
The funny thing is, it was the first time she ran the individual 800m in quite a while.
"It was a bit of a shock," Carlin said. "I was even amazed myself that I was able to make it . I went to go watch Nationals last year, and since then, [competing there] has been my goal."
Her favored events include the shorter sprints and she explained how she had struggled with the longer distance events until seeking the advice of coaches and other runners.
"I approached the race a different way [at Regionals]," she said. "It was always tough to go in. I talked to a couple of distance girls and we switched up my strategy to sit and go out slower. Now it's coming so much easier . my time is dropping. I'm trying to run smart races."
Women's head coach Gwen Harris was certainly pleased with Carlin's success.
"Our goal was to get in there and run and put in a really good race," Harris said. "We wanted to give her a feel of how to run the race. She did an excellent job."
On Sunday, Carlin set a new personal record and began the journey westward.
"I'm really nervous; it's going to be some heavy competition," she said. "I'm going to have to run the three best races of my life."
Carlin will be traveling alone. Senior Shani Boston had the top Ivy League heptathalon score, but did not qualify for Nationals. In order for her to join Carlin, her total of 5120 had to have been within the 20 top scores in the country.
The men's squad entered four events at Regionals, but didn't come away with results similar to Carlin's. No one qualified for Nationals, despite what head coach Charlie Powell called "solid" performances.
Although junior Tim Kaijala's has been very successful in the 800m this season, his impressive 1:49.92 mark did not translate into a trip to the Golden State. And sophomore pole vaulter Anthony Abitante didn't impress anyone by failing to clear the qualifying height of 4.91m.
"There were a lot of situations where we were really close to getting people in," Powell said, referring to Kaijala and his 4x100m team of sophomores Kevin Benjamin, Joey Brown, Sam Shepard and senior Grafton Ifill, which placed 15th and also missed qualifying.
However, Kyle Calvo did qualify in the decathlon (a separate event not held at the Regionals), so he will be headed to Nationals as the sole men's representative.
So now that the Quakers have hit their target of sending athletes to Nationals, they're hoping to turn those invitations into podium finishes.
