Kara June thinks 13 can be her lucky number.

“I'm seeded 13th for the Trials,” the St. Joseph graduate said in a phone interview. She chuckled. “I ran 13 seconds faster in my last steeplechase race than I'd run the one before. I'm thinking that I can run at least another 13 seconds faster in the preliminaries and then ANOTHER 13 seconds faster in the finals.”

The 26-year-old is one of several athletes who have qualified for the USATF Olympic Track and Field Trials for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. She is seeded 13th in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase.

The Santa Maria Swim Club's Rachael Wahl has qualified for the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials which take place in Omaha June 29-July 6. Wahl will swim in the women's 200 and 100-meter butterflies.

The top three finishers in each track and field and swimming trials event can book trips to Beijing. June's best time (and seed time for the Trials) is 9:57.09. Anna Willard is seeded third at 9:34.72.

June was a standout at St. Joseph and then won the Western Athletic Conference women's steeplechase championship four times when she ran for Fresno State.

The USATF meet takes place today through July 6 at the University of Oregon in Eugene. The 3,000 prelims are at 7:40 p.m. Monday. The finals are Thursday.

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All the area U.S. Olympic Trials qualifiers except Wahl are in track and field.

They include June, Arroyo Grande alumni Stephanie Brown-Trafton and Billie-Jo Grant (both women's discus) and Sean Shields (men's shot put), Cabrillo graduate Duane Solomon (men's 800 meters), Atascadero graduate Chelsea Johnson (women's pole vault) and Sharon Day of Cal Poly (women's high jump).

Arroyo Grande resident Jordan Hasay has qualified provisionally for the women's 1,500 meters race. There is a 30-runner field, and her time was 33rd on the list at press time.

She'll move up if there any more scratches. Hasay just finished her junior year at Mission Prep.

All of the qualifiers except the 28-year-old Brown-Trafton will be in their first Trials. Brown-Trafton finished second at the 2004 U.S. Trials and earned a trip to the Athens Olympics.

She's seeded second in these U.S. Trials too, behind long-time rival Suzy Powell-Roos. Brown-Trafton's entry mark of 66.17 meters (217 feet, one inch) led the world for a time in 2008, according to the IAAF's Web site.

June said she is running back to form after a stress fracture in the metatarsal bone in the fourth toe of her right foot canceled a good part of her season.

“To tell you the truth, I've definitely not done what I've wanted to this season,” she said. “The stress fracture was a huge bummer.

“I've had three workouts on the track since the injury, the rest have been on grass, but that can actually be just as beneficial as running on the track, maybe more. It lightens the shock on the legs, and it helps your mental toughness to run on grass.

“My last steeplechase was 13 seconds faster than the one before, so I'm heading in the right direction,” said June. “I have a lot of faith and hope. I won't be satisfied just to be there - I'm going after a spot on the team.”

June said she was so caught up in the excitement of the Trials that she had planned to leave for Eugene yesterday but then thought better of it.

June runs for the Asics Aggies running club and, “My coach, Joe Rubio, advised me to treat it like any other race and stick to my routine.

“It's already crazy up there, with people coming in and out. I'm working (today). I'll leave for Eugene Saturday, I'll stay in a hotel that has cooking available. I'm trying to keep things as normal as possible while I'm away from home.”

Wahl said she'll be living a 10-year dream at the Swimming Trials.

“It's a little of both, but I'm more excited than anything else,” Wahl said at a SMSC workout at the Hancock College pool this week. Wahl had been asked if she was excited or nervous, or both, about the upcoming Trials.

Wahl qualified for the 200-meter race in December and the 100-meter race last spring. Her bests are 2:14.58 in the longer one and 1:01.73 in the shorter race.

The 20-year-old said, “The 200-meter race is definitely my stronger race. I'm hoping for a 2:12 in the 200 and a one minute-flat in the 100.

“I'm really not focusing so much on place; just on time.” Wahl's first race will be at 9 a.m. PDT June 29 in the 100-meter butterfly preliminaries.

SMSC coach Mike Ashmore will go with Wahl to Omaha. “It's the nicest pool you'll ever want to see,” he said. “The swimming people pull out all the stops to make it a nice meet, the competition is EXTREMELY fast.

“It's the best meet of the year in this country. If you can't get excited for the Olympic Trials, you just can't get excited.”

June's not in the “can't get excited” category.

“Honestly, I am so pumped up for this,” she said. “I've run in the stadium once before and it's an awesome facility. So many greats have run there, (the late) Steve Prefontaine, so many others.

“Some people want success, happiness, but me, I want to take my body as far as I can take it. I haven't accomplished what I've wanted to yet this year, but I will.”

A Who's Who At the Trials:

Track and Field

Stephanie Brown-Trafton

Event: Women's discus.

Status: Qualified.

Entry mark: 66.17 meters (217 feet, one inch, second seed).

Notes: Brown-Trafton is going after her second Olympics berth. She placed second at the 2004 Trials, earning a trip to the Athens Olympics. She was a shot put and discus state champion at Arroyo Grande High School. The 28-year-old finished a standout career at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2003. She had the leading women's discus mark in the world in 2008 for a time, according to the IAAF's website.

Duane Solomon

Event: Men's 800 meters.

Status: Qualified.

Entry mark: 1:45.69 (eighth seed).

Notes: Solomon rallied from an injury he suffered in the finals at the 2007 World Championships. He finished third in the 2008 NCAA Division I finals as a USC senior. The Cabrillo graduate won the boys 800 at the state meet in 2003.

Kara June

Event: Women's 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Status: Qualified.

Entry mark: 9:57.09 (13th seed).

Notes: The 26-year-old starred in cross country and track at St. Joseph, then was a four-time Western Athletic Conference women's steeplechase champion at Fresno State. June runs for the Asics Aggies.

Sean Shields

Event: Men's shot put.

Status: Qualified.

Entry mark: 20.19 meters (18th seed).

Notes: Shields capped a stellar career at Arizona by finishing third at the NCAA Division I championships and second in the PAC-10 meet his senior year. He set a U.S. Juniors shot put record at 20.65 meters (67 feet, 9 inches) in 2002. He led Arroyo Grande to the 2001 state championship by winning the discus and finishing second in the shot put.

Billie-Jo Grant

Event: Women's discus

Status: Qualified.

Entry mark: 56.07 meters (21st seed).

Notes: Grant won the U.S. Junior girls discus title in 2002. She was a state champion for Arroyo Grande in that year and her senior season, 2003. Grant began her collegiate career at Arizona, then transferred to Virginia and qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Jordan Hasay

Event: Women's 1,500 meters.

Status: Provisional.

Entry mark: 4:16.98 (33rd seed. 30 are invited. She will move up if there are any more scratches.)

Notes: Hasay is a six-time national champion. The 16-year-old Arroyo Grande resident, who just finished her junior year at Mission Prep, successfully defended her 1,500 title at the USATF Junior Nationals last week. She has won there three times.

Also: Sharon Day (women's high jump) and Chelsea Johnson (women's pole vault).

Day has been a star at Cal Poly. Her 1.95-meter entry mark is tied for third best. Johnson is an Atascadero graduate who was a UCLA standout later. Her 4.68-meter entry mark is third best.

Swimming

Rachael Wahl

Event: Women's 100 and 200 meter butterflies.

Status: Qualified.

Entry marks: 200 butterfly, 2:14.58 (41st seed), 100 butterfly, 1:01.73 (73rd).

Notes: Long-time stalwart for the Santa Maria Swim Club. Holds SMSC age group records for the 200 and 100 butterflies. First Olympic Trials. The 20-year-old will attend and swim for Oregon State next school year.

June 27, 2008