SACRAMENTO, Calif. &045; Rushetta Baker knows how her body will respond the day after big meets.

Long story short, she’s not too pleasant to be around.

Yet she hoped for the best after inclement weather put a halt to the NCAA Mideast Regional meet May 27 after being three jumps in and in fifth place &045; the top five qualify for the national meet &045; with a leap of 20-0 1/4.

Everyone go home, meet officials said. So the Alcorn State senior reluctantly did just that knowing the next day was not going the be the same.

Sure enough, it wasn’t.

&uot;Everything (hurt) &045; that’s no exaggeration,&uot; Baker said. &uot;After a day of jumping, your body is sore. Good thing I jumped well the first day.&uot;

Baker got squeezed out that second day, but the best news came last week from the NCAA that the Independence, La., native received an at-large bid to the national track meet beginning today in Sacramento, Calif., based on her consistency and high marks during the season.

Baker will go at 9:15 p.m. today and is the first Alcorn representative at the national track meet since Greg Carter went in the 200 in 2002.

&uot;I was shocked, but I know Rushetta has the potential to do it,&uot; ASU head coach Herman Williamson said. &uot;I was kind of shocked when they called me at the last minute. I had to get everything together right quick. Kind of shock and surprise, but I knew she was jumping well.

&uot;We got in kind of late last night. I don’t know quite yet (about the weather) &045; we’re trying to find the track.&uot;

Thanks to the at-large bid, Baker has a new lease on her track career with one more chance to make a mark with her first trip to the national meet. The senior had three jumps the second day after everyone came back following the storm but never could get past six meters &045; 5.40, 5.67 and 4.81 on her third one.

Lela V. Nelson of Eastern Michigan edged her out in the second day at 20-3 1/2 (6.18 meters) to Baker’s 6.10 meters.

&uot;She came back the next day sore and didn’t jump well the second day,&uot; Williamson said. &uot;It kind of took her out of her rhythm. I think she would have gotten a better distance if we could have finished the competition that night. They stopped the whole competition that night. We waited around and waited some more, and at about 11 they decided they were going to suspend the event.&uot;

At least Baker has a little more confidence in her ability after that first day of competition. She’s still shooting for somewhere in the neighborhood of 20-6 1/4 that she jumped to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship and qualify for the regional meet.

She sits 22nd now among the top 28 set to compete in the prelims today. Finals are set for 11 p.m. Friday.

&uot;It wasn’t my best one, but it was pretty good,&uot; Baker said. &uot;It wasn’t my best jump for sure. It’s pretty possible (to get there). I have confidence in myself and have enough confidence to say I can jump farther than that. It’s a matter of putting everything together on the big day. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.&uot;

The more she jumps against this level of competition, the better her chances may be. Williamson points to the big motivator that may have helped her reach that mark at the SWAC Championship &045; she went against a girl from Southern in the latest installment of tight competition against one another.