Finding Her Stride : Track and Parents’ Insistence on Independence Awaits Sprinter Edmonson at USC

Since she began running at 7, Malika Edmonson has depended on her parents to help develop her track career. Now that she has achieved their goal of a college track scholarship--to USC--she’s about to discover how to care for herself.

Malika’s mother is Barbara Edmonson, the Trojan women’s track coach and a former Olympian. Her father, Warren Edmonson, is her sprint coach at Playa del Rey St. Bernard High and a former NCAA champion sprinter from UCLA.

They agree that Malika, a double sprint winner at last year’s state meet, needs to enjoy the college experience without their personal involvement and be less of a homebody.

The day classes begin at USC will be the last day Malika lives full time at her family’s Inglewood home.

“Leave your house keys on the dinner table before you go,” Warren has told his daughter, the words appearing a bit more harsh than the intent.

Malika’s parents were sending a message that the 18-year-old is now an adult who needs to do things on her own. It’s a subject they’ve discussed since she officially signed with USC in November.

“We told her when she leaves for college, we’re going to pack her little things and help her move,” Barbara said. “Her new home will be the dorms at USC and Heritage Hall.”

Warren had hoped his eldest daughter would follow his path to UCLA, one of 10 other programs to recruit Malika.

“Barbara had the influence,” he said. “How do you say ‘Mom, I’m not going to USC’ when she’s the coach? . . . I’m happy for her. Getting our daughters into college has been our biggest goal.”

Malika’s track marks have ranked among the nation’s best during her high school career, and her parents are proud of that success. But now they’re ready to stop making allowances and doing her chores because she was too tired from practice or running in a meet.

“Malika can test you at times,” said Warren, who often takes his daughter’s turn washing the dishes.

Now the Edmonsons are passing the towel.

“This is a wake-up call,” Barbara said. “You’re going to college. I won’t be there to be your mother.

“I won’t be there to wash the clothes, make dinner and tell you to do your homework. It’s time to take care of your business.”

Many athletes can turn to their college coaches to act as a surrogate parent, seeking advice and guidance. At USC, Malika can expect no special treatment from her coach/mother.

Barbara, Trojan coach since 1992, laughs at the thought that her daughter may try to take advantage of her.

“It will be war!” Barbara joked. “I’m the coach and I don’t play favorites. I believe in work. I don’t plan to be anyone’s baby-sitter.”

Malika says she doesn’t believe she will really have to leave her key.

“I’m not leaving. I’m going up the street,” she said.

But she did ask her parents what was going to happen with her room.

“We’re going to turn it into a trophy and game room,” her father said.

Seeing the house decorated with trophies and plaques were what sparked Malika’s interest in track when she was growing up.

Barbara Ferrell-Edmonson was a silver medalist in the 100 meters at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games and a gold-medal winner on the U.S. 400-meter relay team.

Warren Edmonson was the 1972 NCAA 100-meter champion. He also ran a leg on a Bruin foursome that won the 1971 NCAA title in the mile relay.

“We had the track background and the natural genes to produce a runner,” Warren said. “But she had to show the interest. We weren’t going to force her into anything she didn’t want to do.”

Malika began running in elementary school meets without her parents’ coaching. By 10, she showed promise, and her father offered to help.

“Our feeling was that some day she would want to go to college and we won’t be able to afford it,” Warren said. “My track career helped me travel around the world for free eight or nine times and it paid for my education.

“If it wasn’t for athletics, I couldn’t have gone to UCLA.”

Warren, an officer with the Los Angeles Police Dept., works the night shift so he can train his daughter during the day. It’s a nice arrangement, but he believes his time away from the force may have cost him promotion opportunities.

“I often think I could be a sergeant now,” Warren said. “But that would have taken too much time away from my daughter.”

Warren, who also coaches his other daughter, Miya, a talented freshman at St. Bernard, said: “My social life is dead. I’m with my children all the time.” Malika says she appreciates her father’s sacrifices.

“He works at night, sleeps and goes to the track,” Malika said. “We really don’t have a social life. Track is our life.”

Said Barbara: “When you stop and think about it, what else are we going to do? We’re not 22 and going on a date. A date now is not the same.”

Sometimes, however, the schedule demands result in problems. Warren said he nearly quit coaching in March after Malika had missed a midnight curfew while they were in Boston for an indoor meet. Warren decided to leave his daughter and her teammates with an assistant coach and took a return flight back to Los Angeles.

“It was 2:30 a.m. when she got home,” Warren said. “I was hot.

“I got on a plane and said goodbye. I wanted to show her I was mad, and not to do it again.”

Said Malika: “We were scared. He never acted like that.”

Malika hasn’t missed a curfew since.

With Malika running the 200, 400 and on the 400 and 1,600 relays, St. Bernard--a parochial school with 850 students--has become one of the top track teams in the Southern Section.

The Vikings went from 10th in the state meet during Malika’s freshman year to third last season when she was a junior.

Malika was a surprise double winner in the sprints at last year’s meet. Although she had run the second-fastest 400 in the country at 52.95, she replaced that event with the 100 before the Del Rey League meet. She won the 100 in 11.82 and the 200 in 23.47, a time that ranked her second in the nation.

“We got slack from coaches, family and friends,” Warren said. “But we needed to do something to improve her starts. Girls all over the Southland can run. And she wants to be able to compete with Angela in the 200.”

That would be Angela Williams, a junior from Chino who is Malika’s biggest challenger. Williams finished second in the state meet in the 100 last year, .02 seconds behind Malika.

This April at the Arcadia Invitational, however, Williams easily defeated Malika in the 100, 11.50 to 11.99.

The sprint contests between Malika, Williams and Kinshasa Davis of Long Beach Wilson--the state champion in the 400--will be one of the highlights at the state meet June 6-7 at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento. The state-qualifying Masters Meet is at Cerritos College on May 30.

“My goal is to run an 11.5 and a 23.47 or better and place in the top three in the 100 and 200,” Malika said. “I also want my team to win state, and then I want to get ready for college.”

Malika has never been away from home for more than a week. She looks forward to not having a curfew.

“If they want me out of the house, that’s fine. I plan to stay out all night. As long as I keep my grades up, my mother will never know,” she said, jokingly.

Said Barbara: “We’re not going to chat too much on the phone.”

But she admits that it might be a bigger adjustment for her and her husband having one less child in the house.

“We spend a lot of time with our kids,” Barbara said. “We’ve grown up with their phone calls and their dating. It will be an empty feeling not having her around. But she’ll be back.

“She’ll still have her house keys. She probably already has made copies.”