Hard Work Is No Day at the Beach : Nordhoff’s Hatch Ready for 800, 300 Low Hurdles Double Today

OJAI — Her intense work ethic made her a model athlete the past four years, her coach says, but Bridie Hatch of Nordhoff High has a confession to make.

There were times during the previous three track seasons when she wanted to be relaxing on the beach with her friends rather than working out under a hot sun.

“It was hard to be out there by myself when I saw my friends heading to the beach,” Hatch said. “I knew I needed to do my workout, but I don’t think I was as focused as I should have been because my mind was always thinking about my friends and the beach.”

Hatch still adores the sand and surf, but she has taken a more serious approach to track this season.

That could explain why she’ll run the 800 meters and the 300 low hurdles today in the Southern Section Division III championships at Cerritos College.

The meet starts at 11 a.m. with field events. Running events begin at 1 p.m.

Hatch’s double will be noteworthy for two reasons:

First, not many 800 runners can excel in the 300 hurdles--or vice versa--at the divisional championship level. Second, the two races are held so close to each other that running well in both is considered nearly impossible.

Hatch will have about 45 minutes between the finish of the 800 and the start of the 300 hurdles, but she is looking forward to the challenge after running a personal best of 2:16.42 in the 800 and a season-best of 45.12 in the 300 in the preliminaries last week.

Coach Ken Reeves unsuccessfully tried to get Hatch to focus on the 800 last week.

“I don’t ever think I can’t do things,” she said.

Hatch’s decision to continue running the 300 hurdles is understandable because it has been her best event.

It’s the event in which she has run 44.17 and placed first, second and third in the past three Division III finals. It’s the event in which she is tied for eighth on the all-time Ventura County list and it’s the event that she planned to focus on this season until she ran a surprising 2:16.46 to place third in an 800 open heat at the Arcadia Invitational on April 12.

“Up until then, I was thinking 300 hurdles,” said Hatch, who ran 2:26.5 in a dual meet against Buena earlier this season. “But after that, I started to think, ‘Maybe I should take a closer look at the 800.’ ”

Reeves, who guided the Nordhoff girls’ cross-country team to the 1995 Division III state title and to the Division IV championship last year, figured that the 800 was an ideal event for Hatch because she had speed and endurance. She finished 13th in last year’s cross-country state finals.

But he never envisioned her running the 800 and the 300 hurdles.

“I think both races take a lot of heart,” Reeves said. “They’re both courageous races and you just don’t see people competing in both of them.”

Reeves’ biggest fear is that Hatch will expend so much energy in the 800 that she won’t have anything left for the hurdles.

“She has been a class athlete all along and I don’t want to see her embarrass herself,” Reeves said.

Hatch doesn’t think she will. She even points out that running the 800 makes her more relaxed and flexible for the hurdles.

“I noticed [it] last week when I started to stretch before the 300s,” she said. “All my muscles were loose already.”

The mental aspect of the double is challenging because Hatch will have to start focusing on the hurdles shortly after finishing the 800.

“I’ll basically warm down from one and start warming up for the other,” Hatch said. “I’ll have that five- to 10-minute period after the 800 when your whole body has kind of a dull pain, but then I’ll start to get ready for the 300s.”

Although Hatch posted the fastest qualifying mark in the 800 at the preliminaries and had the second-fastest time in the 300 hurdles, her goal today is to run fast enough in at least one race to advance to the section’s Masters Meet on Friday at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

The nine fastest times in the four divisional races in each event today advance to the meet and Hatch is confident she’ll be among the qualifiers.

She figures she can run 2:14 in the 800 if the pace is right and then bounce back with a time in the mid 44-second range in the 300 hurdles.

But Hatch’s main goal all season has been to qualify for the state championships at Sacramento’s Hughes Stadium on June 6-7. To achieve that, she must finish among the top five in the Masters Meet.