Published: May 16, 2008 11:40 am            

Very versatile

• Sarac OSU record holder in heptathlon

Tihana Sarac is clearly an incredibly gifted athlete.

If only the Oklahoma State junior had a more flexible back…

Sarac is the conference’s third-ranked heptathlete (5,057) going into this weekend’s Big 12 Track and Field Championships in Boulder, Colo. She is also the Croatian national record holder in the event.

That shows how good she is in the 100-meter hurdles, 200m, 800m, long jump, shot put and javelin.

Her biggest problem comes in the high jump, where she has to use a scissor technique — like hurdling but with a roll at the end — rather than the more traditional flop — a backward jump that includes the arching of the back.

Thus her best mark this year is 4-foot-11. For comparison, the two women ahead of her in the heptathlon are Nebraska’s Chantae McMillian (5,226) and Kansas State’s Annika Schoenebeck (5,065), who have cleared 5-5 and 5-2.5, respectively.

“(Scissoring) is what high jumpers do to warm up,” said OSU coach Rene Sepulveda. “They usually stop at about four feet and then they flop over. Tihana can scissor five feet. When high jumpers see that, it freaks them out because they think she’s going to go jump like six feet.”

Sarac knows she must develop the ability to flop if she is to become an elite heptathlete on the international stage.

“If I could just get that, I’d be really, really good,” said the Kutina, Croatia, native.

Still, many would already characterize her as “really, really good.”

Last season, her first heptathlon came at the Big 12s, where she placed sixth with 4,929 — the school record.

“Nobody expected me to do that,” Sarac said.

It was the result of a strategy that paid off.

“Her first couple of years here, we spent a lot of time on the ‘hep’ and she was injured a lot,” Sepulveda said. “We redshirted her her second year here. Every time she’d go do everything, her knee would swell up, her ankle would swell up, her hamstring would get hurt.

“I told her she’d score points as long as she was healthy. So we decided, let’s train for one specific thing that will cover the running and forget about the other stuff. We (went with hurdles and) sacrificed a lot of specific training and yet she stayed healthy.”

She is also performing. She is ranked 40th nationally and could qualify for the heptathlon at the National Track and Field Championships, to be held in Des Moines June 11-14.

If that happens, it will be a victory of sorts for the entire OSU coaching staff, as she’s the only Cowgirl guided by all of them.

Sepulveda works with her on the 800m. John Baumann handles the throwing. Zivile Pukstiene covers the jumping and the 200m. Even volunteer assistant Jim Bolding — the world-record holder in the 400-yard hurdles — pitches in for her hurdling practice.

“She’s the athlete that ties all of our coaches together,” Sepulveda said. “It’s fun and a good thing for the team.”

Sarac also competes in the 4x100m and the 4x400m. Those relays are ranked ninth in both with PRs of 46.92 and 3:58.51.

The top eight in each event score, so Sarac could play a part in the Cowgirls picking up points three times — and that’s counting all seven heptathlon events as just one for the versatile athlete.

As final proof of her versatility and natural athleticism, consider the 400m hurdles. Sarac has run them just once this year, but the 1:02.47 she clocked in Arlington, Texas, on March 29 is 12th in the conference.

Sepulveda said she may take up that event next year.

        

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