EUGENE, Ore. — For Adriane Sims Stone, placing eighth in the women's high jump final last night at the U.S. Olympic Trials was as good as taking the gold medal.

"There is a real joy that I feel right now; you would have thought that I won," said the 28-year-old Mililani mom-of-three who'd just capped an improbable seven years away from competition to clear 1.84 meters (6 feet, 1/2 inch) and finish right in the mix with the nation's finest female leapers.

Independence Day at historic Hayward Field was the perfect backdrop for her emotion-filled leaps.

"It took a great deliverance," she said. "I celebrate my own independence. You know, one victory at a time."

Raising a family wasn't the only thing keeping her away from track and field. There was the alcohol problem. And the drug problem. And she'd become a heavy smoker. Amid all this, her weight ballooned from 150 to 230.

But somehow, with a huge lift from her strong religious belief, and the support of her family (husband Kenneth, an Army sergeant stationed at Schofield; daughter Naelee, 6; son Kyzaiah, 3, and daughter Saidee, 2) she was able to outleap the adversity that would surely have kept a less determined athlete grounded.

Just thinking of her children brought tears to her eyes.

"Momma is so proud of those kids; they were my big inspiration," she said.

"Everybody kept asking me 'what am I going to jump today?' and I just told them 'I don't know.'

"Sure, making the Olympic team would have been great. But I couldn't ask for anything more than I got today.

"I PR'd (the 1.84 was an all-time best). ... after seven years. Who'd have ever believed that?

"I couldn't be more blessed."

Back in 1996, she'd been the North Carolina state girls champion for Byrd High School in Fayetteville, and she went on to St. Augustine's University in Raleigh, N.C., where coach George Williams guided her to the 2000 Olympic Trials.

After all that time away from the sport — and all the travails - becoming the volunteer jumps coach at Mililani served as the catalyst for her comeback.

Stone wasn't the only Hawai'i athlete in the event. UH volleyball player Amber Kaufman made the finals, too, and placed 12th with a 1.79-meter (5-10 1/2) clearance.

It was Georgia Tech graduate Chaunte Howard winning the event with a 1.97-meter (6-5 1/2) leap, outperforming UCLA alumna Amy Acuff, who went 1.93 meters (6-4), and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo product Sharon Day, who finished at 1.91 meters (6-3 1/4).

"The competition today was awesome," said Stone. "Watching those women jump, height after height; it was tough seeing some women so defeated, but it was inspiring seeing the others keep going."

Camaraderie ruled the day.

"We were all cheering each other on, really being there for each other," said Stone.

"We weren't really each other's competition. That bar was our competition. We were in it together."

Stone hadn't met Kaufman until the Sunset Series meet at UH in May, where she posted her Trials qualifying leap of six feet.

"I really planned not to do track this year, until I met coach (Carmen) James at the airport one day," said Kaufman, who'd high jumped in high school in San Jose, Calif.

"Coach had just come back, with the team, from the WAC Indoor Championships (at Boise State) and she told me 'we lost by just point; you would have made the difference.'

"So she talked me into it right then and there.

"But getting as far as the Olympic Trials? I never even thought about getting this far. But here we are. It's all been just a crazy ride.

"I go back to Hawai'i on Sunday, and I start training again for volleyball on Monday."