Flat out bookin' - Otahk hurdler is perfect in classroom

Laura VanHoevelaak will try to reach the pinnacle of Ohio Valley Conference track & field this weekend in the OVC Championships in Cape Girardeau.

She's already reached the pinnacle of academics at Southeast Missouri State University. She's on schedule to graduate this month with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.

"Laura is really what the term student-athlete is all about," Southeast coach Joey Haines said. "She's been a team leader and her grades speak for themselves. What she's done is really amazing."

VanHoevelaak will be one of the favorites in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles this weekend at the Abe Stuber Track and Field Complex. She finished second in that event last season and has the conference's second-fastest time this year, trailing defending champion Tonika Smotherman of Austin Peay by about a half-second.

"She'll have to work hard because I'm going for it," a smiling VanHoevelaak said prior to Wednesday's workout at the Stuber Complex.

In addition, VanHoevelaak was fourth in this year's OVC indoor 400-meters (the 400 hurdles aren't held indoors) while running on the second-place 400 relay team. And as a freshman, she ran on the winning indoor distance medley relay squad.

But while VanHoevelaak's athletic accomplishments are impressive, what sets her apart from the normal college athlete is her work in the classroom. Through four years of college, never has she received a grade other than 'A.'

"It's something I'm really proud of," she said.

It's also something VanHoevelaak never really thought about when she came to Southeast -- primarily because the native of Canada was unfamiliar with American academics.

"I never thought about it because I really didn't understand the 4.0 scale," VanHoevelaak said. "We don't have it in Canada.

"But I was always a good student. And probably after my freshman year, when I finished with a 4.0, I figured I could get through it that way."

Added the personable VanHoevelaak with a laugh, "It's good to show that athletes are not just dumb jocks. We have brains."

VanHoevelaak said juggling brilliant academics with strong athletics "is all about time management. Last week, we had an eight-hour trip coming home from the Drake Relays and I studied."

Ironically, a tragedy that occurred surrounding the Drake Relays four years ago is the only reason VanHoevelaak even wound up at Southeast.

Haines had signed Katie Drentlaw, a high school senior hurdler from Minnesota. She drove to the 1998 event in Des Moines, Iowa, to watch her future teammates compete. However, on her way home to Minnesota, Drentlaw was killed in an automobile accident.

"We were out of scholarship money after signing Katie," Haines said. "Then after the tragedy, we had a scholarship open. We needed a hurdler, I had heard about Laura and I gave her a call.

"Coming back from Drake the other day, we were talking and Laura said if that girl hadn't gotten killed, she wouldn't be here. It's strange how things work out sometimes."

VanHoevelaak, from Hamilton, Ontario, is glad that Haines not only had a scholarship but also that he even had heard about her in the first place.

"There were other Canadians coming here at the time and I raced against one girl who was nice enough to take down my name and times and give them to coach Haines," VanHoevelaak said. "I was probably going to go to a Canadian university and track programs there are basically non-existent, with no scholarships."

Looking back, VanHoevelaak almost can't believe her good fortune. She's enjoyed things at Southeast so much, she'll stick around next year to attend graduate school while using up a final season of track eligibility she has left over from 2000, when she redshirted with an injury.

"I've enjoyed it from the get-go," she said. "I can't imagine how things would have turned out if I hadn't come here, but I'm really happy they've worked out like they have."