It is time, for senior Novelle Murray and the entire University of Hawai'i women's track and field team. Time to make their mark in the Western Athletic Conference Championship, which begins Wednesday in Fresno, Calif. Then, time to give Annett Wichmann, the defending WAC heptathlete champion, company at NCAA nationals.

In Murray's words, usually few and far from loud, the next few days "hold incredible possibility" for what she characterizes as "by far the best team we have had since I got here." In an inspirational e-mail to her teammates, she asked them to embrace the blessing of being in an individual sport that allows everyone "to be part of a team where all of us get to take the final-second, game-winning shot."

The co-captain has qualified for her fourth NCAA Regional in discus and won two WAC championships. Her throw of 176 feet, 5 inches ranks fifth nationally. A top-five finish at regionals the end of this month sends her to her first NCAA Championship; with her ranking, a top-eight finish might be enough.

At Saturday's last home meet, Murray improved her personal best in the hammer by more than 2 meters (59.73 meters/196 feet) after not touching it in three weeks. She has the strength, competitiveness, skill, consistency and grace to go where no UH thrower has gone before.

Now, she says simply, it is just about "the big throw." The one that will help her capture a third WAC title, succeed at regionals and make her final collegiate meet at nationals in Sacramento, Calif. It would mark the first time two Rainbow Wahine have qualified together, and both Wichmann and Murray are exceptionally optimistic.

"I want to win, I'm gonna put it out there," Murray said. "We'll see what happens, but that is my ultimate goal, an NCAA championship."

This Canadian, who grew up with world-class sprint training from her father, Mike, wants to be an All-American. Then she will graduate in kinesiology and pursue Jamaican citizenship (her father is from Jamaica) and a place on the Jamaican Olympic team.

Collegiate throwers would not be surprised to see her in Beijing. In Trackwire's Dandy Dozen, a weekly power rating that judges athletes on numbers as well as strength of opposition, Murray is second only to Arizona State's Sarah Stevens, whom she beat at UCSD two weeks ago. Murray took third at the last NORCECA 23-under championships.

"Anything is possible," Murray said. "Throwing is highly, highly technical. You can be really strong and throw far because you can muscle it. But the best technique will always win. It has so much to do with momentum ... it's a whole lot of little things that add up to one big throw."

Hawai'i associate coach Garrett Collier first saw Murray's throwing potential when she was a sixth-grader at a junior development meet. Murray didn't see it until she got here as a freshman "sprinter" whom head coach Carmyn James envisioned as a multi-sport athlete.

"Then Garrett interfered and taught her to throw," James joked. "As a freshman she won the WAC. Why train for seven events when you can win one?"

Murray qualified for regionals in her first collegiate meet and saw her track future laid out in front of her. Now her father gets teased by his coaching colleagues for sneaking away from sprints to watch throwers. His daughter has taken to the events so quickly that when she lets go of the discus or hammer it appears to sail, a dramatic difference from those who only "muscle" the implements and don't get the aerodynamic benefits.

Collier started from scratch with Murray, which allowed both to see dramatic improvements as she picked up the basics, such as getting the discus to spin. With her exceptional athletic background, innate talent and intense competitiveness, she quickly caught athletes who had been throwing most of their lives, and now has passed many.

And, "somewhere along the way I started to love it," particularly the discus. "I think it's the perfect balance between strength and power and grace," Murray said. "I really do."

She has had tremendous success during this intense learning phase — four-plus years of what she calls "one of the best experiences of my life" — with one notable exception: At her last regional, "I basically failed," Murray said. She got "jittery" and fouled on the final throw, which would have qualified her for nationals.

Collier blamed it on her late start in discus. Murray believes she learned an immense amount that day. Now she will find out precisely how much.

"Going into this last month, I really want to win WAC and after that, it's all about the big throws," Murray said. "If I don't throw big, I don't move on. It's all about doing my best and getting a huge throw."

NOTES

Coach Carmyn James, who resurrected the UH program in 2000, expects Hawai'i's first top-five WAC finish this week. Based on past performance and ranking, she believes this team can collect 90 points, 21 better than its previous best two years ago. A third of those points could come in throws; in discus alone, UH has four throwers ranked among the league's top eight. Hawai'i was eighth at last year's WAC Outdoor Championships, which it hosted. Louisiana Tech is the two-time defending champion.

Six 'Bows have already qualified for NCAA Regionals: Novelle Murray (discus and hammer), Annett Wichmann (javelin, with her heptathlon standard taking her automatically to nationals), defending WAC high jump champion Emily Sheppard, Mallory Gilbert (high jump), Thalia Amanakis (400 hurdles) and Meghan Weaver, for the third straight year in shot put. That equals the school record set in 2005 and James believes freshman thrower Alana Faagai, pole vaulters Jessica Trujillo and Samantha Weaver, and distance runner Chantelle Laan have legitimate shots at joining those six. Faagai would have had the standard two weeks ago, but was sabotaged when an official, standing in the wrong place, was hit by her discus throw.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.