Amanda Alvarez’s leap into triple jumping’s elite is a testament to mind over matter, or possibly the other way around.

The University of Hawaii senior extended her collegiate career into this week’s NCAA Track & Field Championship by going 43 feet, 73⁄4 inches at the regional two weeks ago in Texas. Alvarez has hit her stride the past three months in an event so demanding and devious it took the Olympics 100 years to decide it was safe for women.

"Certain states don’t even have it in high school, like Utah," acknowledges Alvarez. "A lot of people have no idea what it is. In high school, I was a long jumper and did a little high jump. The coach said ‘try triple jump.’ He told me what the sets were and it was kind of a joke because I’m really uncoordinated. But I got the sets down, it kind of came naturally and he’s like ‘now you can actually triple jump.’ It’s still kind of a joke because I can’t walk and talk going across the field without falling on my face."

Nobody from the major track schools is laughing. Alvarez’s awesome jump in Austin had coaches shaking their heads and checking rosters. She is seeded sixth among 24 NCAA qualifiers. The top 12 after Friday’s first round compete for medals.

Only two Rainbow Wahine have medaled at NCAA Outdoor Championships — high jumper Amber Kaufman (gold in 2010 and bronze in 2009) and long jumper Gwen Loud (gold in 1984). Alvarez is the first triple jumper in UH history to qualify and gives UH a presence at seven of the past eight nationals.

The senior from Vancouver, Wash., somehow described her event in 42 seconds on YouTube. She ripped through the 16-step approach — "push six steps, get tall six steps and on the last four get fast." She detailed her takeoff from the board and beyond — "push my hips squared, cycle my leg around and take off again" — and finally the finish — "drive my knee forward, hold it there until I take off again, long jump into pit and collapse forward."

The event is anything but a hop, skip and a jump. Alvarez, who stands only 5-feet-5, has extended her approach some 10 feet since jumping nearly 43 feet, then a personal best, in March. She and coach Carmyn James are trying to give her space to allow her technique to catch up to her exceptional quickness.

Alvarez captured back-to-back weekly conference awards earlier in the season and took gold in the triple jump and bronze in the long jump at the Big West Conference Championship. She also placed seventh in heptathlon and 25th in the NCAA regional long jump with a leap of 19-8. That PR was set while her classmates were walking across the stage in Manoa. Alvarez, an all-conference academic selection every year, now has her degrees in psychology and sociology.

This week is simply a prelude to graduate school and a career in psychology or criminology, but Alvarez is all in. She was "infuriated" at the Mt. SAC Relays when another PR was erased by a scratch, but made the most of her next opportunities when they came.

Friday’s triple jump competition will be the last. Her entire family will be there, including a twin sister about to give birth. This is the athletic opportunity of a lifetime — again.

"This is literally a dream come true, I’ve thought about this," Alvarez says. "I was at D-II nationals (with Seattle Pacific in 2010) and I thought how cool it would be if I could do this again.

"I keep asking myself ‘how much do you want this?’, pushing myself and making sure it’s for me and no one else. That makes the motivation more primary. I want to leave it all out there. I’m just going for it. I’ve been training for this and I know what to do."

James is absolutely sure Alvarez will not need a motivational speech. Her "Pit Bull" is ferocious.

"Amanda has sound technique, but she’s like a train coming down the track at full speed, totally fearless and hitting the board," James says. "I’m still amazed by that, that people can run so fast and still accurately hit that board without looking down. You can’t look down because it will throw off your posture and you can’t slow down or that will throw off your jump, too. So you have to be fast and accurate and in the most upright position possible. … If your foot lands too far out front, that’s when it hurts."

Just watching triple jumpers basically pole vault on their joints hurts. But Alvarez, who can’t walk and talk her way across the field without falling, has never had a major injury, only major success. Friday’s competition is one last chance to succeed, and an amazing graduation present.