This is the eighth in a series of stories on Portland State student-athletes who've earned Endowed Scholarships. For all the stories, click on the FEATURES link just above the Viking Vision video box at GoViks.com.

Last fall, sprinter Jazmin Ratcliff was bullish on the prospects for PSU's track team.
 
"Everyone watch out for the PSU track team. It's going to be an exciting year," predicted this year's co-recipient of the Jack and Deane Garrison Endowed Scholarship.
 
And it was, especially for the former Benson High sprint star.
 
Her goals for the year were to beat the PSU record in the indoor 60-meter hurdles and to make nationals in the 100-meter hurdles outdoors in the spring.
 
While she accomplished the first, Ratcliff fell short on the second, although she certainly had a good year in that event, too. 
 
Along the way, she was the Big Sky Conference (BSC) individual champion in the 100-meter hurdles with a 13.30-second time in the finals (13.38 after altitude conversion), ran the anchor leg of the Vikings' Big Sky-champion 4X100 meter relay team (it won the Big Sky title in a school-record 45.11 seconds) and broke the school, BSC championship and conference record in the 100 meter hurdles at the Big Sky meet (13.26 seconds—13.34 after altitude conversion.
 
Indoors, she didn't just set a new Viking 60-meter hurdle record, she destroyed the old record of 8.46 (held by Joenisha Vinson) by running the distance in 8.35 seconds at the Big Sky Championships. It may have been even more important for her overall progress as a sprinter, however, that she blew away her best time during her sophomore year (8.71 seconds) by nearly half of a second.
 
She also was pleased with her Big Sky championship time in the outdoor 100-meter hurdles.
 
"That was a big PR for me," Ratcliff said. "It didn't seem as if I was running that fast. But coach Henson said that professional runners say when they have a really fast time, it feels like they're going slowly."
 
Ratcliff did make it to the NCAA Preliminary Rounds in Arkansas in the 100-meter hurdles, where she missed qualifying for nationals by .09 of a second. She improved her performance over the previous year, moving from 24th to 17th.
 
She set herself up for a big year by "working on the little technical stuff…placement of my arms as I go over the hurdles, making sure my leg is completely straight. Coach Harrison is trying hard to find things that will help me get better technically."
 
She also trained for 11 months straight.
 
"I didn't even take Christmas or spring break off," Ratcliff said. "From June 2013 to May 2014, it was steady practice."
 
Besides technical issues, Ratcliff said she's been working on running by herself.
 
"People ask me what I'm thinking when I'm running. Often, I'm not thinking, I'm just competing, giving it my all. I need someone to push me and, if there isn't good competition, it doesn't work," she said. "I'd rather be 5th and be pushed than be first and not be pushed."
 
Next year, her goals are to be as close as possible to making the nationals in the indoor 60-meter hurdles.
 
"They only take the top 16, so it's hard…but I want to get as close as possible," she said.
 
She's also sprinting toward the end of the coursework she needs for a degree in nursing, and hopes to go into the OB/GYN field. She also currently has a 3.39 cumulative GPA, though she says she's working hard to raise it even higher because "applying to nursing school is so competitive."
 
And what about her on-track predictions for next season?
 
In the outdoor 100-meter hurdles, as far as making it to the national meet: "I'll be there," she predicted. And, at least for this year, her prediction record was pretty good.