Elzunia Lamb has jumped a long way from her days at Hollister
High. Lamb, the 2001 CIF State long jump champ at 20-5 1/2, has
ventured into the wonderful world of the Heptathlon for the
Cal-Berkeley Golden Bears.
Elzunia Lamb has jumped a long way from her days at Hollister High. Lamb, the 2001 CIF State long jump champ at 20-5 1/2, has ventured into the wonderful world of the Heptathlon for the Cal-Berkeley Golden Bears.
Lamb, who won the prep state title using the last name of Wojcicka, redshirted her first year at Cal due to stress fractures in both legs. With hard work, she placed sixth in the Pac-10 Conference in the Heptathlon on May 11 in Los Angeles, totaling 4,688 points. That total was good for 10th place on the all-time list at Cal. She won the long jump portion of the event with a season PR of 19-9.
Her times and marks in the other six events were: Javelin 100-4; 800-meters 2:43.31; 110-meter hurdles 14.66; High Jump 4-8 3/4; Shot Put 32-9; and 200-meter run 26.18.
Her performance was remarkable, considering she did little but rehab her freshman season due to the stress fractures.
“I was happy with the season,” said Lamb. “I’m not too down. The coaches have been supportive of me, which has really helped. They’ve basically told me that I shouldn’t be down because I didn’t do anything for a whole year.”
Lamb qualified for the NCAA track and field championships, but her best of 18-1 didn’t qualify her for the finals.
“I didn’t do too well,” lamented Lamb.
Still, Lamb, a potential Slavic Languages major, is happy with her selection of Cal.
“I have a great relationship with the coaches,” she said. “The first year was a struggle for me, but my second year her is going smoothly. Everyone is giving me lots of support.”
Surprisingly, Lamb’s favorite event is the Javelin. She had to learn it when she was a junior in high school because she performed the Heptathlon at a meet at James Logan in Union City her final two years as a Haybaler. She won the event both times.
“My least favorite is the 800,” said Lamb. “It’s two laps of sprinting.”
Lamb said the biggest difference between track and field in high school and college is that the “training is different. That’s the biggest adjustment I’ve had to make.”
Lamb, who just finished her season, is currently taking a break from training. She plans on staying in Berkeley this summer and working.
“I’ve got three years left to improve,” said Lamb, who has the natural talent to improve in leaps and bounds.
