In her four years of cross country competition for Cal State San Bernardino, Tanya Zeferjahn of Hesperia set team records at 5,000 and 6,000 meters and became the only runner in the history of the program to earn all-America honors for running and academics.
Now, Zeferjahn is blazing a new trail in distance running, competing at 10,000 meters for the Queens University track team in Charlotte, N.C., an NCAA Division II school like Cal State San Bernardino.
Zeferjahn is a graduate student at Queens, working toward her master's degree in business administration and is eligible to compete in track and field since CSUSB has not had and does not have a track and field program.
This past weekend, at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, PA., Zeferjahn finished eighth in the 10,000 meters in 35:36.23, but more importantly, she eclipsed the NCAA Division II automatic qualifying standard for the national championship meet by 14 seconds (35.50).
With that run, she is qualified to compete in the national championship meet on May 21-23 in San Angelo, Tex.
Earlier this year, Zeferjahn won the Carolinas Conference 10,000 meter run in 38:40 to earn all-conference honors. She is currently ranked No. 10 in the nation in Division II in that event.
Zeferjahn graduated from CSUSB in 2006 after setting team records at 5,000 meters (18:28.1) and 6,000 meters (21:59). She earned all-CCAA conference honors three times, NCAA all-West Region honors four times and was an NCAA all-American in 2004, finishing 28th in the national championship meet.
She was the athletic department's co-Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year twice, maintaining a 3.89 grade point average in business administration with an emphasis in environmental management. She was twice an ESPN-The Magazine/CoSIDA District 8 academic all-region first team selection in track/cross country and was an NCAA Division II Track& Cross Country Coaches Assn. scholastic all-American.
Zeferjahn is a 2002 graduate of Hesperia High School. Her parents are Randy and Debbie Zeferjahn.
Her team is competing this weekend in the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford University.
