For Keren Sari, a future with the UNM track and field team was just an e-mail away.
In 1999, Sari, who is from Omer, Israel, sent e-mails to several coaches at universities in the United States inquiring about their programs. Former UNM assistant coach Susan Vigil-Belcher kept in touch with Sari, and she eventually signed with the Lobos.
However, head coach Mike MacEachen resigned in May of 2000, leaving Sari with a chance to leave for another program or stick it out with a new head coach — Matt Henry.
“I knew there were new coaches and I started to think, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t go there, maybe I should go to a new school before the semester begins,’” Sari said. “But I decided that I should try and see if it (UNM) would be good.”
A couple of e-mails from Henry and a chat during the first week of school relaxed her, and Sari said she doesn’t regret her decision to stay.
“I am very glad that I did stay,” she said. “(Henry) is very friendly. He likes to listen and wants to hear what the athletes have to say. I think being friendly to your athletes is very important because it makes for a comfortable environment.”
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Henry said he felt he didn’t make much of a difference in her decision.
“She had better options to go to than here,” Henry said “She looked at her major and this is where she wanted to go to school.”
Now she is a big part of the track and field team’s rebuilding process. She posted the fourth-best outdoor long jump mark in the Mountain West Conference with her 20 foot, 3 inch leap during the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas. It was her best personal effort and was just 1 ¨ inches off an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Sari was the Mountain West’s second-ranked indoor long jumper and pentathlete.
Sari also recorded the team’s best marks in the high jump, long jump, javelin and heptathlon and was among the Mountain West’s top five in the heptathlon. Her heptathlon score of 5,128 points at the Texas Relays was just 47 points off an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
She also added a second consecutive long jump championship to her rÇsumÇ at the 2001 Israeli Track and Field Championships July 9 with a 20-foot jump. That performance came after she suffered a strained hamstring, which sidelined her from the Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships in May.
Sari said she was very happy with her performance, especially because it came at the end of a very long stretch of competition.
“I never competed before the end of April,” Sari said. “It was a much more intensive year. Every week, we had a competition. Then in the conference championship, I injured my hamstring. I was happy to come back to Israel and see that everything was fine.”
Sari not only had to handle the challenge of a longer season, but she also had to adjust to a new country and a different culture.
Sari also said that the university experience in Israel is different because schools don’t have athletic programs like in the United States. She said she moved to the United States to continue her athletic career. Fortunately, her fiancÇ had spent a couple of years in Albuquerque and his presence helped ease the transition.
“I had a picture of what it would be like, but when I arrived it was different,” Sari said. “I guess everything was different. It was not the kind of look I thought it would be. I’ve been to New York City and I knew it wasn’t going to be the same. I did not expect it to be that dry. I thought it would be more green.”
She formed a strong relationship with assistant coach Katarina Zuber, who handles the jumpers and the heptathletes. Zuber, a native of Eskilstuna, Sweden, has been competing on the international scene since she was 13 years old and was a heptathlete and triple jumper under Henry’s older brother Pat at Louisiana State University.
“Zuber was one of the biggest salvations for her,” Henry said. “She became very good friends with her. Keren can go see coach Zuber about anything. That was a big plus to have someone who can listen to her.”
Zuber said traveling to other countries for track and field events helped broaden her understanding and it probably had the same impact on Sari.
“The more countries you go to, the more different culture you see and it helps make you more open-minded,” Zuber said.
She also said Sari made friends with some of the Israeli professors on campus, which eased her transition even more.
But she needed help sdjusting to the to track and field. Henry said Zuber’s coaching techniques are very similar to what Sari has been taught during her career. He also said Sari often shows up a couple of hours before practice and stays after practice to put in more work.
“If you came and watched practice, there’s a few people who work harder than everyone else and Keren is one of those,” Henry said. “She actually puts in extra time, which is good; most people will put in what they need to do.”
Zuber said she tried to capitalize Sari’s speed for the long jump, but she often had a hard time finding the board, which can mean the difference between jumping too early and faulting on her attempt. Zuber added that Sari is not far from qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
Sari said she knows she is close to meeting the qualifying mark in the long jump and the heptathlon.
“It’s not that far,” Sari said. “I think I can do it.”
