The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 234

6-GL Sunday? May12, 1991 The Philadelphia Inquirer Running hard in pursuit of an Olympic dream Vic By Ovetta Wiggins Special to The Inquirer Not many people have the guts to quit their jobs to follow a dream. But not many people have the talent Elaine Van Blunk of West Dept-ford has. Two years ago, Van Blunk was a full-time investigator for the state Attorney General's Office in Atlantic City. Today, she works full time doing what she has wanted to do, and has done, most of her life run track. She has become one the most promising Olympic hopefuls in the area.

Since her resignation, Van Blunk, 26, has signed a contract to work as a consultant for Nike. Her job is to enter races, hopefully win some of them, and sport her sponsor's equipment. Nike provides the equipment and the money for travel expenses. "It's not enough to live on, but it helps a lot," said the former St. Joseph's University standout, who lives with her husband, Jim, in West Dept-ford.

She said her decision to quit her job had not been a difficult one. "I knew it was now or never," she said. "Things were going well when I was working, but I thought things could be even better." And they are. She is competing more. She was one of six senior (over age 19) women chosen to compete in the World Indoor Championships in Spain in March.

She finished eighth in the 3,000 meter run. Two weeks Last year, Van Blunk took first place in the 10,000 meter run at the Penn Relays. Although she placed second this year, she shaved more than a minute off her previous time of 33:49.47. She and fellow Nike teammate Anne Marie Letko each challenged Jennings during the 25 laps on the course. "Lynn and Anne went out very hard in the beginning, but I didn't want to go out that hard," Van Blunk said.

"After about three miles, I passed Anne, and Lynn just remained in the lead the whole way." Van Blunk's husband, Jim, also a former St. Joseph's track standout, also hopes to compete in the Olympic trials. He did not run as scheduled in the men's 5,000 meter at the Penn Relays because his doctor advised against it. Jim Van Blunk said that he had been feeling tightness in his hamstring and that the doctor had not wanted him to risk an injury that would keep him from racing in the outdoor season. Until Elaine Van Blunk finds out her possible future as an Olympian, she will continue her normal workout about 70 miles a week.

She said her husband, an assistant director of admissions at St. Joseph's, gave her the support she needed to make her dream come true. "Because we both run, we understand each other," she said. "On weekends, we'll drive to races in Boston, run, then drive home. "Some people may think it's crazy, but to us it's normal." Special to The Inquirer KATHI KENT RILY Deptford, work out.

Although she scored within the 34:20 qualifying time for The Athletic Congress (TAC) Nationals in June, she still does not know if she will compete for a spot on the 1992 U.S. Olympic team. A TAC representative said the qualifying standards for the Olympic trials would not be set until the fall. The competition will be held in June 1992 in New Orleans. Two women to join Glassboro board Olympic hopefuls later, she was one of two women competing in the world cross-country championships in Belgium.

During that race, she finished 28th overall. More recently, Van Blunk finished second in the women's 10,000 meter Olympic Development Run during the 97th Penn Relays in Philadelphia. She was second only to race- last five years, Glassboro students have hovered near the bottom of the list in Gloucester County on the High School Proficiency Test, the state exam students must pass to graduate. Last year, Glassboro's 84 percent pass rate on the test was the lowest in the county and below the state average of 84.4 percent. "My impression of Glassboro is that there are so many pockets of potential excellence that aren't being orchestrated into a single presentation," Tannenbaum said.

Emory, 43, a benefits specialist with Bell Atlantic and a former schoolteacher, also wants information about why the district has such low HSPT pass rates. Noting that most students leave the area after graduation, Emory said, "I just want them to be prepared as best we can." Emory is the first black to serve on the board since the 1970s. She was supported in her election bid by the Community Awareness Association, an all-black group of about 50 residents who have made education and educational policy in the district a prime target for scrutiny. Although black students make up about 30 percent of the school population, they account for 55 percent of special education students. Emory wants answers for why that is so.

But she said her election is more than just a statement about black Elaine and Jim Van Blunk, of West favorite Lynn Jennings, the reigning two-time world cross-country champion and the sixth-place finisher in the 1988 Olympics 10,000 meter run. "I was happy with second place and with my time," Van Blunk said of her performance of 32 minutes and 37.55 seconds on April 25. "I got all the qualifying standards that I wanted, so I can't complain." Margaret Tannenbaum (left) concern. It is, she said, something larger: "It's a community concern about the education of the minority." Tannenbaum, 49, a professor of secondary education at Glassboro State College, said she believes the district needs to work more closely with the college, which is nationally renowned as a school for teacher training. But she said the district can do things for itself, too.

She said she wants smaller classes, especially in the earlier grades, where she said research shows that i. 1 1 7 '''''('' rmi tm-mmitminitf life By Tia Swanson Special to The Inquirer Linda Emory, the first black woman elected to the Glassboro Board of Education, will take her seat Wednesday after installation ceremonies at the Beach administration building on Bowe Boulevard. She will be joined by Margaret Tannenbaum, who was defeated in her re-election bid two years ago by a board-sponsored ticket. It is, the two women said, a sign that people want change. The two will sit on what had been an all-male board.

During last month's elections, voters turned out at double the rate of the previous year to elect Tannenbaum and Emory, who defeated incumbents Anthony L. Esgro and Samuel F. Tri-filetti. Esgro and Trifiletti had served on the board for a total of 27 years. Only incumbent Russell J.

Car-molingo was re-elected to a fourth three-year term. "There are a number of women voters. They thought it was time, and they wanted another point of view," said Emory, who was the largest vote-getter, with 929. The point of view she and Tannenbaum say they represent is the academic one. If standardized tests are any indication, the district has problems there.

According to Tannenbaum, in the Special io Tn inquirer BOB niLL and Linda Emory look over material in the board meeting room. children from home environments that put them at risk of dropping out are most helped. "This is not a luxury," Tannenbaum said. "It is an absolute necessity if we're going to service the sizable population of students who come to school already behind." She and Emory said they believe the board must work to open channels of communication with parents. Tannenbaum founded the district's only PTAs first at Academy Street Elementary in the 1980s and this year at the Thomas E.

Bowe School. She said the lack of parent participation is not a sign of apathy, but of resignation. "My thinking is that in the last 20 years, the role of the school has changed," Tannenbaum said. "Instead of the school coming to the parents, the parents have to come to the school." The change has meant the school has become something foreign and frightening to many parents, she said. "Parents are intimidated by the school," she added.

"They're intimidated by professionals.".