PORTLAND, Ore. - Junior sprinter Jazmin Ratcliff has always been fast. Even though she had her heart set early on making basketball her major sport, her speed eventually crowded out team sports (as well as the realization that she was going to be 5'2", not an ideal height to play college basketball).

PSU head track coach Ronnye Harrison met Ratcliff at Benson High School, where he was assistant track coach prior to taking over the Viking program.

"She was a special athlete…but she wasn't running (the first part of her freshman year). She was playing basketball. She was fast, but couldn't shoot, so Leon McKenzie (Benson head track coach), Conway McCallister (Benson's jumping coach) and I got her into track," said Harrison.

That meant going against family tradition, however, as Ratcliff's family had a lot of basketball players.

"I thought I'd be a basketball player. Then I realized I wasn't going to be six feet tall…and I had a high school coach who said I was beating everyone down the floor," Ratcliff recalled.

Giving up basketball was tough at first.

"But, when I started having success at track, it got better and, eventually, I spent more time on track than basketball," she said.  She finished high school with four track and three basketball letters.

She decided she liked the individual aspect of running.  "In track you're not relying on anyone else. In track, you rely only on yourself.  I like that individualism."

The possibility of running track in college dawned on her as a sophomore, when she ran the 300 hurdles at a meet in Bend in 44.6, fast for a high schooler.

After that, she gave 100 percent effort to getting better. That's how she came to run 43.58 in the 300 hurdles as a junior, which set a school record and ranked as the fourth-fastest time in Oregon.

On the honor roll for four years at Benson, Ratcliff heard from a number of track programs, including the University of Oregon.  But, Harrison was the only coach who followed through. He had stayed in touch "more as a mentor, than as a coach."

She got an immediate taste of success as a freshman, when her 4x100 relay team went to the NCAA regionals in Texas.

Following that meet, she had a conversation with Harrison, which may have changed her running career forever.

"After the regionals, she said she really liked that event (4x100 relay), but she wanted to make it to nationals. She asked me if there was an event where she might have a shot at making it to the nationals," said Harrison.

Recalled Ratcliff: "When we were leaving Texas, I said to Coach Harrison…'I'm blessed to be here with the team, but I want a way to be here on my own. I want to be here as an individual'. That's when he suggested the 100 hurdles to me."

That summer, she ran 800 to 1000 hurdles each week, Harrison said.

That's her competitive side. "I'm kind of a perfectionist. I want to come in first…don't mind coming in second or third, but definitely not last…so I'm always trying to be the best."

In fact, she added: "[Harrison occasionally] has to tell me to turn it down…to stop…not to put too much pressure on myself, not to be overly critical of myself. It's ok, he says, to take a break."

Last year was her first year running the 100-meter hurdles.  And, what a year she had.

She finished in the top 10 in 16 events outdoors, including the 100 and 200 meters, 100-meter hurdles and 4x100 relay. Her 4x100 relay team was first at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships and she finished third in the 100-meter hurdles after posting the second-best time in the preliminary heats.  She also placed first in the 100-meter hurdles at the Pacific Twilight, second at the Willamette Invitational and third at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational. She also placed third in the 100 meters at the Oregon Preview, running the distance in 12.30 seconds.

But those don't qualify as the highlight of her Viking career so far.

That was the 13.71 she ran in the 100-meter hurdles semis at the NCAA West Regional, the second fastest Viking 100-meter hurdles ever (and Harrison fully expects her to hold the school record before she's finished).

"I thought I had run slower.  At the end of the race, I saw the time and thought…whoa!...it was my first year in the 100 hurdles and I didn't expect to run that fast. It was my lifetime best and Coach Harrison looked at it and said…'hey, you're messing up my plans for you by getting there so quickly'." 

When she started her first year in the 100 hurdles, Harrison told her she'd be doing well if she could run a 14.20. "That would be a very good time. Her first race, she ran a 14.29 and her time just kept dropping."

Ratcliff always has goals. This year, it's to get an 8.4 in the 60-meter hurdles (that would break the school record) and, outdoors, to run a 13.3 in the 100-meter hurdles and make the NCAA finals.

Besides running, she has found a home at Portland State.  "It's a welcoming place. The track team is like my family. People make you feel welcome…even in class. The professors are nice and it's easy to get along with people," she said.

When she finishes at PSU, Ratcliff wouldn't mind running professionally. And, she and Harrison have talked about the Olympics…"if I'm willing to train hard enough. It's something to think about, but you've got to be really, really fast".

Eventually Ratcliff wants to be a nurse and she's carrying a 3.4 in pre-nursing, having just changed her major from pre-dentistry. Her mother, Jacinta Ratcliff, is a Certified Nurse's Assistant.

"I'm an open person, always willing to lend a hand. Sometimes that's not the best thing, but that's the way I am. That's why I want to be a nurse. I like helping people," she said.

As for this year in the PSU track program…

"Everyone watch out for the PSU track team. It's going to be an exciting year."