BUIES CREEK — She cries at the reality that her career at Campbell University is almost complete. She soon will dedicate her life to children and education. And her favorite color is pink.

But somewhere beneath the fluffy and sweet exterior, Alicia Valtin has a fire.

She must, to be able to run nearly 2 miles, jumping unforgiving stationary barriers along the way, dripping wet after repeated falls in a pit of water, and to finish the thing in about 10 minutes.

Valtin, a sleek distance runner from Sanford, has excelled in the steeplechase, a draining event that requires endurance, athleticism and guts.

She will compete in the NCAA Division I track and field East Regional in Gainesville, Fla., this weekend, hoping to land a spot in the nationals next week in California.

"I've known a lot of athletes, when they fall down, that's pretty much it," Campbell distance coach Ken Frenette said. "Not her. She's definitely competitive once the gun goes off. She would make any coach look like a good coach."

Valtin ranks 12th in the region with a time of 10 minutes, 24 seconds. The top five advance to nationals.

But she's still relatively new to the event, having just started three years ago. She's been improving since.

Her last race, a victory in the Atlantic Sun Conference championship, marked the first time she hasn't fallen in the water pit.

So she says there's no reason she can't improve her time and advance to nationals.

"I have as good a chance as anybody," she said. "It's just a couple seconds here and there. My goal all year has been to go to nationals."

Actually, she's already been to a national meet. In the fall, she finished 73rd out of 252 runners at the Division I cross country championship.

But cross country is a widely popular sport.

The steeplechase still is in its early stages of development. The NCAA started sponsoring the sport for women in 2001.

In fact, Campbell's track program doesn't have a women's practice barrier, which is 30 inches, or six inches shorter than the men.

Valtin's boyfriend, Campbell soccer player Scott Phillips, made her a women's barrier this spring. He painted it pink.

Valtin, who recently finished fourth in the event at the Penn Relays, has clearly found her niche.

A former soccer player at Western Harnett High School, she has the athleticism to make the jumps. And her endurance was never in doubt.

"I love watching it," said teammate Sam Tilly, who qualified for the regionals in the long jump. "It's the most athletic event in the distance world."

Valtin, the daughter of a schoolteacher and a retired soldier, will teach kindergarten at Lillington-Shawtown Elementary in the fall.

An Academic All-American, she's just one course shy of completing her master's degree in elementary education.

She still had eligibility this year because she redshirted last year with a knee injury.

While rehabbing, she adopted the motto of the Carolina Hurricanes: "Whatever it takes."

She came back and won her second Atlantic Sun Conference cross country championship en route to the nationals.

Then, this spring, she was the conference champion in the steeplechase.

Last week, she sat in an office on campus and looked back on her career fondly. But when she thought of it ending, her eyes spilled over.

"I'm just so thankful for the whole Campbell experience," she says.

Then, the gentle-but-tough runner from Sanford wiped away her tears, straightened her face, and talked determinedly about shaving a few seconds off her time and making nationals.

"She's a championship athlete," Frenette said.