Seattle Pacific University Athletics

It’s a competition comprised of seven ballistic events, and she was the bomb. Like a stick of dynamite, Anita Sartin was a small but very explosive package.

“On a scale of 10, she’s a 12,” said her Seattle Pacific coach, Ken Foreman. “She was easily the smallest heptathlete at nationals, but she compensates with her explosiveness in the sprints and throws.”

Sartin was a national-class competitor in sprints, hurdles and the javelin. But when she combined those events with others, she elevated herself to the international level in the heptathlon.

As a junior, Sartin set two Seattle Pacific school records and finished third in the NCAA heptathlon. She came back even stronger as a senior, breaking for SPU standards, finishing third in the national javelin and winning the heptathlon crown. Those feats and her contagious enthusiasm were contributing forces to the Falcons taking fourth place in the 1987 NCAA Championships – their best finish in 11 years.

Of her Seattle Pacific records, four still stand 20 years later. Sartin, who represented the United States both during and after her collegiate career, is 16th on the all-time list of Americans for the heptathlon. She has stayed close to home and education, living in Auburn and serving on the physical education faculty at Green River Community College.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS (1986-87)

• NCAA heptathlon champion.

• 3-time All-American.

• Established school records in five events.

• No. 16 on all-time U.S. heptathlon list.