Nov. 5, 2014 By: Geoff Thurner
GoBulldogs.com

FRESNO, Calif. - Former Bulldog discus thrower Lacy Barnes will be honored with a select group of Fresno State alumni at the annual Top Dogs event this Friday, Nov. 7 at the Save Mart Center.

The 1996 Olympic discus thrower owns both undergraduate and master's degrees from Fresno State, and will be among 13 honorees recognized from various campus colleges and divisions (with a full list included at the bottom).

From 1984-88, the Ridgecrest, Calif., native Barnes was one of the Bulldogs' most accomplished student-athletes before starting her career as a psychology professor at Reedley College.

"I'm humbled to have even been considered, and honored to be in the company of other Bulldog alumni who have achieved great things," Barnes said.

As a collegian she was nationally-known as a multiple discus All-American thanks to NCAA runner-up finishes in 1985, '86 and '87, and a ninth-place effort as a freshman in 1984.

The high points of her equally impressive 13-year post-collegiate career included appearances in the 1996 Olympic Games (30th) and 1991 and '97 World Championships (17th, 20th). A U.S. national champion in 1988, '91 and `97, she was also a national runner-up in 1989, '90, '94 and in 1996 - and the latter finish marked her third of four Olympic Trials appearances.

Other finishes among her 14 appearances at U.S. national championships and Olympic Trials follow: 1986-8th, 1987-6th, 1988-OT-14th, 1992-OT-6th; 1993-7th; 1995-14th; 1998-5th; 2000-9th.

Track and field fans may specifically remember her 1996 Olympic Trials appearance that included a narrow qualification to the eight-person event final by 21 inches, followed by a daily best on the next throw of 195-9 that netted a second-place finish and Olympic bid.

Earlier that same season, she also celebrated her personal record in the event - 208-6 - and first "PR" in four years. That mark also ranked her second on the U.S. all-time list and gave her four of the top five best marks ever among Americans at that time.

"As a thrower the psychology degree came in handy since competition is 99 percent mental and dealing with pressure," Barnes said. "As a student, I was initially drawn towards it because people often said that they had an easy time talking to me. Communicating with and helping others is still the most rewarding part of my day."

Since her career in the discus ring, she has enjoyed other phases of success as a mother, college professor with a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University, and most currently a first-year San Joaquin College of Law student.

In 2010, she received a 20-year teacher service award from Reedley College, and now serves as the area president of the State Center Federation of Teachers. "My role with the union still allows me to use a lot of psychology since there's a lot of conflict resolution and mediating," Barnes said. "Understanding where folks are coming from and creating a mutual language is a critical component. To some it can be a thankless job, but I do it because I like to learn."

As a youngster, she got her start in the sport as a sprinter in the 100 meters, 200 meters and long jump before kidney removal surgery in seventh grade changed her direction to the throws.

She is equally proud of the athletic career her daughter, Cecilia Barnes, compiled as a top collegian and post-collegian from 1999-2007 after competing for Clovis West High School.

As a freshman at Washington in 1999, the younger Barnes was a discus All-American and Pac-12 runner-up. After a four-year break from competition, she capped her collegiate career at CSUB as a three-time NCAA Division II discus champion (2004-06), NCAA hammer runner-up and fourth-place shot put national finisher for the Roadrunners. She later represented the U.S. in the discus in the 2007 World Championships (26th), and owned a post-collegiate discus best of 197-5.

"Cecilia's an awesome human being," the elder Barnes said, "and it was pretty cool to be able to compete against her, too. As a mom, it was harder to watch her to throw than it was for me to compete. She was a true original, and never lived in my shadow even though people tried to put her there."

More information on the upcoming Top Dogs event, including information on purchasing tickets is available at the following URL address: http://www.fresnostate.edu/alumni/events/topdog.html

2014 Top Dogs Distinguished Alumnus: Bill Smittcamp (1975) LIFE

Other Top Dogs Outstanding Alumni by College:
- Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology: Rob Yraceburu (1984, '90)
- College of Arts and Humanities: James Melikian (1969) LIFE
- Department of Athletics: Lacy Barnes (1988, '91)
- Craig School of Business: Leo Wilson (1957)
- Kremen School of Education and Human Development: William Rich Smith (1977)
- Lyles College of Engineering: Harry Moore (1979) LIFE
- Division of Graduate Studies: Yolanda Partida (1976, '77)
- College of Health and Human Services: Andrew Hoff (1973, '75, '78)
- Henry Madden Library: Kay Provost (1962) LIFE
- College of Science and Mathematics: Tamsen Munger (1968)
- College of Social Sciences: Todd Suntrapak (1992)
- Division of Student Affairs: Scott Vick (1989, '91) LIFE
- Arthur Safstrom Service Award: Brad Fischer (1981) LEGACY

WWW.GOBULLDOGS Q&A WITH LACY BARNES

Q: How fun will it be for you to be on stage with several other alumni that have accomplished great things since their Fresno State starts?

LB: "I'm humbled to have even been considered, and honored to be in the company of others who have achieved great things."

Q: It sounds like one of your key athletic moments was in the 1996 Olympic Trials in the prelims. You entered the meet as a favorite but had to overcome some anxious moments to finally achieve your Olympic dream.

LB: "At the start I had a foul and one mark that was in danger of not qualifying for the final so I knew I had to improve on my third throw. Throwing can be a psychological thing, so I did my best to try and not to think of pink elephants. All I could hear was what my coach (Scott Semar) said you know what you need to do. Execute the moves as you had practiced them, and the distance will take care of itself."

Q: To enjoy such a lengthy career, I'm guessing you had a great athlete-coach relationship with him - talk about things that set him apart as a mentor.

LB: "He was more than a coach; he was a life coach as well. We talked about life and having a purpose. Throwing is not just about physically competing; it's about getting better, like in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, it's about the need to self-actualize in something. I was already a cerebral thrower which isn't always the easiest to coach. I needed to know why I was doing it and its kinesthetic importance in practice, while others would just go and do what they were told. I was sometimes slower than other throwers to put things together cognitively, but he gave me time, space and energy to have conversations during the process. To me, it was more than just throwing a platter. When I practiced the event, I approached it as how I approached life. It sounds pretty deep, but that's how I went about being the best I can be."

Q: After you made the 1996 Olympic team, you were 32 years old - at an age and after a career-defining experience that many elite athletes might consider retiring. However, you continued to excel on the U.S. circuit for another four years - what fueled and helped you stave off Father Time?

LB: "(Laughing) Most of my friends were Olympic two-timers, and I was jokingly getting dismissed as a one-timer. But seriously, I still felt like I had more to offer in the sport. I knew there was more there, and I was ready to try and keep evolving. After the 2000 Olympic Trials, I knew that was my last event. When you walk off the field after the event and feel like the world has been lifted off your shoulders after not making the finals, then you know it's time for a new challenge."

LB: "I ended up leaving for the doctoral program at Claremont in 2000, and that move was probably the gift of not making the Olympic Team so I could start a new part of my life. I was ready to improve my being and personality in different ways."

LB: "A big part of my life has always to take new challenges and test my limits. It's easy to set our sights or goals on things we know we can achieve, but for me, courage is to take on something which you might fail at and instead try to be successful. That's why I've recently started going to San Joaquin College of Law. It won't be easy and I might fail, but I'm not going to be afraid because it's going to be another life-enriching experience."

Q: How were you able to avoid major injuries for so long in such a physically demanding event?

LB: "I had little things here and there, like a groin injury and shoulder injury, but most of them didn't keep me out of the mix. It wasn't until 1998 when I pulled a tendon of the rotator cuff and had to have it sewn back on that I missed 1999. My other injury was a bad knee that went back to high school basketball. All in all, I had no real problems till the end."

Q: You had an impressive career while getting your masters, teaching, being a mom, and wife (former husband Matt Mileham) at the same time - how were you able to juggle it all?

LB: "Scott (Semar) used to ask me who did I think I was - doing so many things simultaneously, wonder woman? I didn't think or worry about it all, I just did it. I always tried to stay positive and find a silver lining in anything."

Q: Talk about where you grew up and your beginnings in the sport.

LB: "I'm from Ridgecrest, Calif., which is about 3.5 hours southeast of Fresno in the Mojave Desert. The nearest place people typically know about is Mammoth, while Barstow is southeast about 1.5 hours in the middle of nowhere. There was a naval station there - the NWC (Naval Weapons Center) which is now the Naval Air Weapons Station - that's why the town basically existed. There was about 12,000-13,000 people there then, now maybe 27,000-29,000."

LB: "I was involved in all sports at a young age, including baseball, and I was one of three girls who tried out for the little league team. I also played softball, volleyball, and ran track. After I had the kidney removed when they found a malignant tumor in seventh grade, I tried to come back to sprinting, but it didn't quite work because I kept pulling muscles. My coaches - Linda and Fred - said to throw these objects - that was how I was introduced to the shot put and discus. I played basketball, too, and was decent, but had a knee injury as a senior, so I then just stuck with track. I later got third in the CIF state meet in the discus, and got an athletic scholarship to do track."

LB: "I was courted by UCLA, Fresno State and another school, but Fresno State was the best fit for me academically. I was lucky because it was the first year there was a women's team at Fresno State, and I got to work with Coach Tom Pagani - he was a great guy to work with. He was well known on the West Coast and nationally, too. He was a good hammer thrower and had just come from Stanford I think."

Q: What part does sport and recreation play in your life today?

LB: "My body is falling apart - I have duct tape and zip ties working overtime - but I still try to work out every morning. I try to golf, too, and that's also for my mental state. Even if I'm busy, I'll still work on the short game or hit balls on Tuesday/Thursday before I come to work. It might be in the early mornings - perhaps 5:30 am so I can get to work by 8 a.m."

Q: With the recently-acquired passions for law school and golf, you sound like quite the renaissance person. Are there other key things I haven't covered that are part of your psyche?

LB: "I have a passion for identifying underdogs, and the folks who might get written off by society. I try to serve as a model for them. You have control over your immediate future, and that's what I try to convey to young or single mothers since I was 15 when I had my daughter. It's not necessarily a badge of honor at first, but I serve as a model that great things are still possible from not so positive beginnings."

LB: "I try to have a good work ethic and try to be true to myself and tell truth as I see it, although others might not always agree."

Q: What were some of your fondest athletic memories as a Bulldog?

LB: "As a freshman, I competed at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in a key dual meet. I came in throwing something like 155 feet in my first real meet as a collegian, and I ended up improving it by almost 20 feet - that's a huge jump. I did the victory lap, and as the crowd was cheering, Tom (Pagani, her coach) was standing there on the infield next to the finish-line ready to give me a hug. I jumped into his arms and the crowd went wild. It was a fun moment to wear the opposing colors at a track stadium that really knew the sport and appreciated great efforts, even if you beat the home school favorite (Quenna Beasley)."

LB: "Being from a small town, and then the Valley, Fresno State wasn't a major track venue, so going to these larger facilities and throwing in a stadium in front of thousands of people was pretty significant. Throwers sometimes have to compete on the back 40 so those were special venues when you were in the middle of the track. Because of Fresno State I also went on my first plane ride."

LB: "My most memorable national meet was in Florida - it was a back and forth between myself and Carol Cady who was a post-collegian from Stanford and American Record Holder at the time. She had retaken the lead on her last throw, and I came back and won that competition on my last throw. It was all about the psychology of two prized fighters, and who's not going to break. There were other big meets that she won, but I won that day."

Q: After your collegiate career, did you still train in the Valley?

LB: "I trained at Fresno State for a while but then had some issues there, but still trained in other places in Fresno. Luckily, track is one of those sports where you can always find a place to train. When Bob Fraley intervened the conflict and said let's get this sorted out, he talked to Red Estes and Tom (Pagani) and had a conversation about how I could come to the team and participate, clearly, I stuck around Fresno."

LB: "I wanted to stay here and train, partly because I had a daughter who had started school, and I didn't want to uproot her. I entered the master's program at Fresno State, which was a great opportunity to continue my education. I then got a job here in 1992 so my career began here, too."

Q: How neat was it for you to see your daughter Cecilia also become an elite discus thrower and make a World Championships team?

LB: "She's an awesome human being, and it was pretty cool to be able to compete against her, too. As a mom, it was harder to watch her throw than it was for me to compete. When you're in the stands, you have no control over the situation. She was a true original, and never lived in my shadow even though people tried to put her there. Neither of us would let that happen. She's so different in her competitive spirit than me. People tried to use the same measuring stick, but it never worked."

LB: "She (Cecilia) made her way into the sport on her own. She also played basketball, too, and as a freshman or sophomore they wanted her to be on the varsity team, but she didn't want to switch. The coaches then said I we needed to have a conversation with her to convince her to accept the move, and we said no - it was her call. Then she went into track, and she was a natural since she had been around it for so long, and she ultimately got two scholarships. The first was as a freshman at the University of Washington, and the second was later at CSUB. In between the two stints and after a layoff, we had a friendly competition, and she still threw 150 odd feet off no practice which wasn't far off her best. That's when she went to CSUB and was a three-time Division II national champion while getting her philosophy/religious studies degrees."

Q: When you were looking at career directions, what steered you towards psychology?

LB: "As long as I can remember, people said that they had an easy time talking to me. I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, so I needed to study something I enjoyed so I could apply myself and do my best. Psychology seemed to be an interesting subject and something that I was curious about."

Q: How were you able to apply the field of psychology towards sport?

LB: "A lot of athletics is understanding sensations around you, and molding those into perceptions of your reality. Throwing is 99 percent mental, so a big aspect of being able to compete is dealing with pressure. I always focused only on myself and the sector lines. In the discus ring, there were no other competitors in my world. That's been a philosophical perspective for my life off the track, too. I've never worried about what others think about me - it's irrelevant - and not get caught up in others' drama."

Q: Talk about your job now as a psychology professor at Reedley.

LB: "Actually, I've been released from my teaching duties to do the job of president of the State Center Federation of Teachers; a union that represents all full-time and part-time faculty at Fresno City College (including the Career Training Center), Reedley College (including Madera & Oakhurst centers), and Clovis College Community Center. It's purely administrative, and it allows me to use a lot of psychology because there's a lot of conflict resolution, mediating, and understanding where folks are coming from and creating a mutual language. It can be a thankless job, but I do it because I like to learn. It's a skills-based situation, and I'm in a position to do this work well."

Q: As a psychology professor what classes did you enjoy the most?

LB: "Probably human sexuality and lifespan development. Those are subjects that people think they know a lot about and have fun learning more about. Also general psychology is great. The topic I love the most talking about is death. We don't have an opportunity to talk about that in our society since it's often taboo. We always prepare for life but not so much death."

Q: Do you have any connections with Fresno State today?

LB: "Some here and there. My ex-husband Matt Mileham still works there in the Satellite Student Union as a production supervisor, and we're still great friends. Lynnette Zelezny (the current provost) was on "Team Barnes" when I was trying to get my Ph.D., and she graduated from Claremont years before. She and Bob Levine, a longtime mentor, who teaches psychology at Fresno State, would send me emails and reminders to keep me going. They continue to inspire me, and I owe them a lot."

Q: Away from work what are you favorite pastimes?

LB: "I love learning and am foolish enough (laughing) to go back to law school so I'm in my first year there. I'm also trying to learn Spanish and developing a better golf game. I enjoy spending time with my mom and daughter. My mom is 88, and I love watching her. She's taught me not to fold up when life is hard - that is what life is about - and focusing on what you have instead of what you don't. She's buried three children and a husband, and is still constantly learning and doing new things. Failure is only a lesson, and we have to keep trying to grow."

"Be Bold!" - The official home of the Fresno State Bulldogs is 940 AM ESPN Radio.