Hawai'i is taking a small team to the NCAA West Regional Track & Field Championships, which is all about individuals. The WAC Championship was a time for bonding and bringing the 'Bows to No. 40 in the national rankings. This weekend at Northridge, Calif., the nine Rainbow Wahine who have qualified — most in UH history — need to look deep inside and win one for themselves.

The regional opens this morning. By tomorrow night the top five in each event will be punching tickets to Des Moines, Iowa, for the NCAA Championships.

Hawai'i junior Annett "The Germanator" Wichmann will be at nationals a third straight year. The first woman to win three WAC heptathlon championships is already in after scoring more than 5,500 points in her first meet of the season. High jumpers Amber Kaufman and Emily Sheppard have a good shot at going no matter what happens this weekend because their jumps rank third and ninth in the country this season.

The Rainbow Wahine have set 25 school records this season, seven by runner/hurdler Thalia Amanakis, whose injured calf will not allow her to compete. Here is what the 'Bows are focusing on to find the crucial extra centimeters in Northridge:

POLE VAULTERS

For senior Patricia Gauthier, it goes back to the beginning at her third regional. She has a tendency to get caught up in the miniscule details of the "perfect vault." This weekend she wants only to focus on "running fast and jumping as hard as I possibly can." At the same time, she needs to relieve the pressure she puts on herself.

"I need to remember that I am vaulting not because I owe it to anyone, or because it is my duty, or because I need to qualify for NCAAs, but rather because I absolutely love doing it," said Gauthier, from Ottawa, Ontario. "Why would I even want to qualify for NCAAs if vaulting was not fun for me?"

Like Gauthier, junior Samantha Weaver, from Lockeford, Calif., wants to keep herself relaxed on the runway and free of negative thoughts.

"She's in the same boat as Tricia," said volunteer pole vault coach Spencer Chang. "When she calms herself down, feels she has nothing to lose and just goes for it ... when she feels like that she'll respond."

Junior Jessica Custance, from Arlington, Texas, has been working on a "good tall take-off," similar to the form she showed at Stanford last month. She became the first in UH history to clear four meters (13 feet, 1.5 inches) and barely missed at 13-6 on another vault Chang described as more of an "attack" on the bar. He and Custance hope that kind of confidence comes back.

THROWERS

Meghan Weaver, a shot putter from London, Ontario, is the first Rainbow Wahine to compete at four regionals. What she has learned is patience, in her technique and outlook — "I need to get my nerves and past competitions out of my head."

Associate coach Garrett Collier, who works with throwers, agrees and doesn't even want her thinking about top five, only consistency. He describes her technical priorities in rhythmic terms, where Weaver hits all her positions in the ring, stays balanced and doesn't "run through the throw." That puts her into a "power position" that allows her to best utilize her strong legs.

Sophomores Alana Faagai and Brittani Daniels, both from California, are making NCAA debuts in discus. They are trying not to over-analyze their big moment, enjoy it and, in Faagai's case, "do it for dad."

Collier hopes they have no expectations, and feel no pressure. "Nobody is expecting anything from them, except us," he said. "They should really accept that and try to make a name for themselves at regionals."

Technically, Daniels needs to control her speed and pace in the ring, stay balanced so she can use her legs, and keep the discus flat.

Faagai is always trying to "find my finish" and end with a "nice, clean snap." Collier calls it getting her "hips through at the finish" instead of moving into reverse too soon.

Wichmann works with head coach Carmyn James on all her events, including javelin. The German has been concentrating on keeping her arm extended longer and shortening her final step with her anchor (left) foot so her legs and hips "produce enough tension." That allows Wichmann to "snap" the javelin more than throw it.

James' other piece of advice to her perfectionist multi-event All-American — Wichmann was fourth in pentathlon at this year's Indoor Nationals — is to "try less." Explains Wichmann: "I just have to keep cool and enjoy what I'm doing."

JUMPERS

Kaufman announced her official return to the track and field world by becoming the first Rainbow Wahine to clear 6 feet at the WAC Championships. That got her into Olympic Trials, and has volleyball's starting middle blocker eyeing the next height (6.14), which she was "sitting over" two weeks ago but couldn't clear because she didn't arch properly. She has been focusing on that arch and driving her right knee high and forward, and trying to forget about the bar.

Sheppard, a junior from Vancouver making her third regional appearance, has been working on "leaning in on the curve (approach)" and, like Kaufman, jumping up instead of "throwing" her right shoulder at the bar. James also wants her to "think less," particularly after seeing her accomplish so much at the WAC Championships while competing in the long and triple jumps simultaneously.

That gut instinct is what James is looking for from everyone.

"They have to trust in their training," she said. "It's like money in the bank. It's there, they don't have to work any harder, just allow their performances to come to the surface. Since February we've been talking about replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. Now I'm at a point where I don't want them to have any thoughts. Forget about thinking, just concentrate on doing."