NEW WILMINGTON — Abbey Basta was a hurdler without hurdles.

Just as planned.

For much of the early part of the Westminster College track and field season, the sophomore leaped over nary a hurdle in practice.

They were tucked away in some forgotten shed.

Instead, the Slippery Rock High School graduate and Titan sophomore worked on her speed.

It equated to slower-than-usual clockings in the hurdles at the beginning of the season.

"It was just," Basta pauses before finishing her answer, "different."

But different proved to be good in the long run.

The master plan of new coach Tim McNeil came to full fruition for Basta and her Titan women's track and field teammates at the recent Presidents' Athletic Conference Championships at Washington & Jefferson College.

Not only did Basta win the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles at the conference championships, she also broke the school record in both events as well as the conference mark in the 100 hurdles with a preliminary time of 15.31 seconds.

Suddenly, Basta saw the method to McNeil's no-hurdle madness.

"I was nervous about it because last year at PACs, things didn't go so great for me," Basta said.

McNeil was a standout football and track athlete atWestminster during his college days. When he got the job with his alma mater, he immediately went to work tweaking the practice regimen.

He knew from experience that pounding the hurdles in practice is counterproductive.

"If we hurdle every day, it takes a toll on your body," he said. "I learned that a long time ago."

Instead, McNeil worked with Basta and the other hurdlers on speed, flexibility and technique, putting less emphasis on starting the season fast and more on finishing strong.

Basta bought into it after some initial hesitancy.

"We didn't know what to expect," Basta said. "But (coach McNeil) is a firecracker. He's always rah-rah. He's fun to be around and he figured he knew what he was doing."

Westminster's women won the conference for the first time in the program's history.

Now, Basta and other members of the Titans are setting their sights on the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships later this month.

Basta is close to the qualifying standards in both hurdle events. She has already qualified as a member of the school's 1,600-meter relay team.

Her goal is to run a sub-15 seconds in the 100 hurdles, which would qualify her for nationals.

"To go to nationals in three events?" Basta said. "That would be awesome."

It's somethingBasta never considered as little as two months ago.

That's another thing McNeil wanted to change.

"I want them thinking on a national level," McNeil said. "They are starting to think that now."

NcNeil has no doubt Basta will qualify in the two hurdle events.

Westminster has the East Coast Athletic Conference meet next weekend and another meet in Boston in preparation for nationals.

"She'll get it by the end of the year," McNeil said. "The hurdles is a warm-weather event and we're getting into some warmer weather. She has all the tools. It's nice from my aspect because I don't have to teach. I just fine-tune."

Basta considers herself a 100-meter hurdler. McNeil believes her best event will ultimately be the 400 hurdles.

On that, the two agree to disagree.

"I don't like the 400 hurdles," Basta said. "That last 100 meters, you just want to die. You can't feel your legs."

"Yeah," McNeil says, laughing. "She doesn't like them very much."

The best part, McNeil said, is he will have two more years after this one to convince her.

"The best thing about Abbey is she showed up for every practice and bought into what I was saying," McNeil said. "She's a quiet leader. She has her own way of leading. She works as hard as anyone."