Freshmen Hanneman,
Varner gear up
for national meet
as regular season ends
By Kelly Laughlin
Of The Print
ain. Athletes hate it. To
them, it is a four-letter
word. But for all its
dismal synonyms —
agony,
torture,
twinge,
spasm—pain is ultimately,
hough ironically, linked with
success.
Freshmen tracksters at the
College, Sue Hanneman and
Jani Varner, know the feeling:
he mind and body are in
dissension. The body says it
las had enough, the mind
doesn’t listen. Even as pangs of
ension pull and stretch the
muscle with every stride, the
mind knows when it should
quit.
At times the mind gives up.
Sometimes the mind is relen-
less, and the body collapses
rom exhaustion. The good
ithlete, though he doesn’t
mow his or her limitations, in
he most unexpected moment,
omes fSee to^face“with them.
Something gives. A tendon is
lulled, or more seriously, a
ibial bone is nearly broken: a
stress fracture,” caused by
rears of constant pounding on
ihard asphalt surface.
After
the
initial
llscouragement of being
leaten out of state qualification
n the javelin and discus events
her senior year at Sam Barlow
High School, Varner cited a,
late season knee injury as the
cause of her “not faring very
well.” She said, “I couldnt
plant very well.”
But “Speedy,” as Varner’s
uncle nicknamed her when he
noticed her rapidly crawling as
an infant on the living room
floor, has had a chance to lick
her wounds and return. With
the season winding down,
Varner has qualified for
nationals in the javelin with a
throw of 135’ 6.”
While her coach, Marilyn
Linsenmeyer, thinks Varner
“could do a lot better,” the
blue-eyed field eventer is com
fortable with what she does,
and she does just about
everything but trim the grass in
side the track.
A long jumper, high jumper,
javelin thrower and occasional
sprinter, Dani says she’s “not
ready” to enter the pentathalon
event this year.
Varner apparently knows
her limitations, but she’s having
a good time in the process. “I
enjoy trying new things out
there. 1 like my individuality
where it pertains to track, but
I’m not too fond of running
10,000 meters.”
Varner is surprised at her
performance thus far. “I’ve
been popping off PRs (personal
records) like crazy!” she ex-
Varner apparently knows her limitations, but
¡he’s having a good time in the process.
“I enjoy trying new things out there. I like my
Mividuality where it pertains to track, but I’m
lot too fond of running 10,000 meters.”
I,
Mnesday, April 30,1980
Staff photo by Sally Pollack
claimed. Specifically, Varner
has slated a five-foot ascent in
the high jump, and a 15’ ll3/»”
leap in the long jump, including
her personal record and
national standing in the javelin.
Though the pain of injury is
now post-facto for Dani Var
ner, it is real, though
“minimal,” for redhead sprinter
Sue Hanneman.
Hanneman’s
doctor
diagnosed last Monday the
beginnings of a stress fracture
in her leg.
Sue Hanneman won’t quit.
Despite her doctor’s warning
that if she keeps running she
will risk cracking the tibia
bone— the long, slender band
of bone that runs from below
the knee to the talus bone, just
above the foot—“The season is
more than half over, and I
don’t intend to quit now.”
Consider the fact that Han
neman has already qualified for
nationals as an anchor runner
in the 1,600 meter relay and
open 400 run, and her logic for
pressing on is clear.
Linsenmeyer, though she
had the same injury during
competition in college, had lit
tle to do with Hanneman’s
decision to keep running. “I
had my mind made up before I
saw Marilyn. She just told me
my alternatives,” said Han
neman.
The alternatives: (1) to stop
training altogether until the fall,
or (2) continue competition on
a minimal basis, didn’t appeal
to the aggressive Hanneman.
Linsenmeyer’s comment seems
to parallel Hanneman’s feelings
about coping with the injury.
“There’s no doctor who’s going
to tell any hungry athlete that
he ‘can’t’ run. The athlete’s
main concern is, if he or she
keeps running, will it cripple
him for life? If it won’t, the
good ahtlete will keep run
ning.”
Hanneman, who took
second in state as a 400-meter
sprinter and slated the best time
in that event at state last spring,
has been competing for about
six years. She knows what it
means to work hard. But she is
in a transition period in her
track career.
“Sue is an athlete who hasn’t
yet realized her full potential^’
said Linsenmeyer. “In fact,
she’s a little bit frightened of it.
She’s sort of caught between a
hard spot and a rock.” ,/S
After six seasons, you’d ex
pect Hanneman to be used to
sprinting alone in her favorite
event, the open 400-meter
run. But, “I’m more relaxed
running with a group of girls,
I don t think I enjoy track that much. It’s hard
and it hurts. In fact, I wasn’t even going to turn
out this season. But after the first meet, I knew I
had to compete. That’s what I do it for. I enjoy
the glory and recognition.”
Photo courtesy of Public Information
like in the relays; I tend to be a
nervous runner. I usually run
better when I’m relaxed. It’s*
funny, after running this stupid
thing for six years, I’m finally
getting used to it,” Hanneman
said.
At presstime, Hanneman
had a chance to do two things
at the league meet against Mt.
Hood and Lane Community
Colleges last weekend. “I want
to break the school record of
58:00 seconds in the 400,” she
said in a Friday interview, and
qualify for nationals in still
another event, the 200-meter
run.
But three events? Han
neman would be looking at
quite a task should she com
pete in two relays, and two
open runs.
Nine
races
in
one
day —preliminaries, semi
finals, and finals in each
event—added to the short, 15-
minute lag time between the
400-reJay race and 200 meter
run, all on a leg that Han
neman is combating with
aspirin, could add up to too
minimal,” she said, “but I won’t
run the 200 even if I qualify.”
Linsenmeyer seemed to make
it final when she said, “I won’t
let her run it.”
“Sue is not ready for that ex
tra event,” said Linsenmeyer.
“She’s not mentally tough
enough yet. Getting ready for a
tough day like she’ll have in
Texas (this year’s site of the
NJCAA track nationals) is a
slow learning process. She has
to realize her potential for it to
work.”
Hanneman credits most of
her success this season to the
CCC coaching staff, who she
said, “Makes you want to win.”
But the girl the team has
nicknamed Hanneman-amen-
amen-amen (for repetition, not
religious denotation) has ob
tained a clear philosophy about
track: “I don’t think I really en
joy track that much. It’s hard
and it hurts. In fact, I wasn’t
even going to turn out this
season. But after the first meet,
I knew I had to compete. That’s
what I do it for. I enjoy the