June 25, 2004

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It was a leap of faith

by Keith Peters

It was an unremarkable career. No national titles. No Pac-10 crowns. A lot of hard work and nothing to show for it.

So Grace Upshaw said goodbye to track and field, said so long to the women's long jump and just quit.

"I thought I was done. I didn't think I could get to that next level," she said. "So, I decided to get on with my life."

After competing for in the sport at Acalanes High, one year at Oregon and three at the University of Californian, Upshaw apparently was done. For the next two years she worked as an executive assistant for a company in Los Angeles that made music videos.

"It was fun," she said of working for Propaganda Films. "I definitely enjoyed it."

But she didn't love it. That became clear when Upshaw's older sister, Joy, introduced her to Al Joyner, the 1984 Olympic champion in the triple jump. Joyner and Upshaw talked for three hours at that Christmas Party. They talked about track and about Al's recently deceased wife, legendary sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner.

Upshaw went out to the track the very next day and spent the ensuing 10 months training with Joyner.

"I really missed the sport," Upshaw said. "When Joy introduced me to Al in L.A., he inspired me to give it another try, that I did have talent."

It's a decision Upshaw never regretted. Since returning to the sport in 2000, Upshaw has risen through the ranks to become one of the nation's best in the women's long jump. She won her first outdoor national title in 2003 and was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. by Track & Field News magazine.

In less than three weeks, the 28-year-old newly transplanted Menlo Park resident will discover if her leap of faith some five years ago will pay off in a trip to Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Members of Upshaw's family already have their tickets to Athens.

"Mine's one of those last-minute tickets," she said. "I only want to earn it. I don't want to go to spectate."

If Upshaw remains consistent to form at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials that begin July 9 in Sacramento, she won't have that worry. She's currently one of only two U.S. athletes (the other is Marion Jones) who have the Olympic "A" standard in the women's long jump. That means all Upshaw needs to do in Sacramento is finish among the top three in her event to become an Olympian.

The automatic Olympic qualifying standard is 21-11 1/2. Upshaw surpassed that with a wind-legal leap of 22-1 last summer.

"It's such a load off my shoulders," Upshaw said of having the free pass to Athens. "It's easier to prepare for the trials.

"I definitely envision the trials being very exciting, (with) great competition. That's what I'm gearing up for. It's more motivation."

Aiding in the motivational process is the opportunity for Upshaw to once again test herself against Jones, the yardstick in the women's long jump since Jackie Joyner-Kersee retired.

Upshaw and Jones, who first competed against each other in the 1993 California State Meet (Jones won at 22 feet and Upshaw went 17-10), have gone head-to-head twice this season. The first was at the Home Depot Invitational where a strong wind carried Jones to 23-4 3/4 and Upshaw to a wind-aided 22-5. At last weekend's Prefontaine Classic in Oregon, Upshaw again was pushed by a 2.6 meters-per-second wind (2.0 is legal) to a second-place finish of 22-7. Jones caught a break when the wind died down and won with a U.S.-leading mark of 22-9. Upshaw's best legal mark this season is 21-8 3/4, which she has accomplished three times.

Only two other U.S. jumpers are close to Jones and Upshaw. Hyleas Fountain has gone 21-7 1/2 and Chelsea Hammond has a 21-6 3/4 best. Other top competitors include Chi-Chi Aduba (21-5 3/4 this season), Tameisha King (No. 3 in the U.S. last season), Ola Sesay (21-5 this year), April Holliness, Shakeema Walker and Brianna Glenn.

The Olympic trials form chart by Track & Field News, by the way, has Jones winning and Upshaw finishing second in the finals on July 15.

Upshaw's consistency and experience against elite competition should make a difference in Sacramento. Last summer, Upshaw recorded a wind-aided 22-11 1/4 at the Norwich Union Challenge in England to upset No. 1 world-ranked Tatyana Kotova of Russia. Upshaw also won the U.S. Outdoor title at Stanford and wound up ranked No. 5 in the world.

Despite her East Bay upbringing, Upshaw trains at Stanford. She recently moved from Redwood City to Menlo Park after being robbed.

"They took all the nice jewelry," said Upshaw, who had her engagement ring swiped. Upshaw's fiancé is Josh Leachman, a former water polo player at Stanford.

So, Stanford has been good to Upshaw. She trains with Glenn and ex-Cardinal jumper Jackie Edwards - all under the watchful eye of Stanford women's head coach Edrick Floreal. Edwards competes internationally for the Bahamas.

"They're good training partners," said Floreal, who has coached Upshaw for four years. "They get along great and train well together. They have different strengths and weaknesses, so they balance each other out."

One of Upshaw's strength is her family. Her father, Monte, broke Jesse Owens' national high school record in the long jump with a leap of 25-4 1/4 in 1954. Sister Joy, who is married to Stanford wide receivers coach Ken Margerum, is still active in masters track and field when she's not coaching the sport at Cal. And, in addition to his football background, Ken Margerum ran the high hurdles during his college days at Stanford.

"I'm the youngest of four," Grace Upshaw said. "Everyone went to Acalanes High School in Lafayette and ran track. I was an Upshaw, and they just assumed I'd run track."

Despite quitting the sport her sophomore year of high school and again in 1997-98, all assumptions have proven out for Upshaw. She is a track person and expects no less than the best from herself.

"I put more pressure on myself than anybody else," she said. "I have higher expectations than anybody. I'm not super fast. I'm not super-hoppy. I take what I do have and bring it together."

Upshaw said she has jumped 7 meters (22-11 3/4) in practice, "So I know I'm capable of that."

Anything close to that will get her on the U.S. Olympic team in a few short weeks.

And then she can join her family in Athens. It will be quite a vacation for the family, and perhaps a dream come true Grace Upshaw. Sometimes a little faith goes a long way.

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