When hurdler Michelle Johnson first came to Arizona in 1993, UA assistant track and field coach Fred Harvey remembers an immature and unfocused freshman, who did not always have her priorities in order.

However, through hard work, a little growing up, and a strong belief in herself, Johnson, now a senior, has become one of the top women in the world in the 400-meter hurdles.

In fact, she is as confident as ever before after breaking the school record in that event with a time of 57.17 seconds at the Sun Angel Classic on April 6 in Tempe.

Her time was also good enough to place her seventh in the top-10 fastest times in the world, and, currently, it is the fastest time in the NCAA.

But Johnson is not satisfied yet.

"The school record is nice, and I am very happy I broke it, but I am tired of running 57 seconds. I want a low 55," Johnson said.

Don't be too surprised to see that happen shortly, because it is on her 'hit list' right on the wall next to her bed.

Also on that list is breaking the school record in the 100-meter high hurdles, winning the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and going to the Olympic Trials in June in Atlanta in both hurdle events.

"I don't try to be conceited about it, but I try to get this attitude that nobody out on the track is going to beat me," the 22-year-old Johnson said. "I am anxious to run a good time, because I know I am capable, and I am so much stronger than I was last year."

Johnson, who was born in Portland, Ore., grew up running track with her older brother, but she did not start out as a hurdler.

While participating in youth track, Johnson competed in the pentathlon and the high jump with the latter being her best event. In sixth grade she had an impressive high jump best of 5 feet, 6 inches and thought that was her best event. But competing in high school changed all that.

High school was in Vacaville, Calif., because of her father's, Ray, job transfer, and it was during that time she realized that she was not jumping any higher. So, she decided to give hurdles a try. In her junior year in high school she started running the 100-meter hurdles, and it was for that that she started to attract attention. Recruiting letters poured in from California, Harvard, UCLA and Southern Cal.

Again, after her junior year,

her father received another transfer. This time the move was to Phoenix, where she attended Paradise Valley High School. There she captured two state titles in the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles.

It was also about that time when Ray decided to call Harvey, the sprints and hurdles coach for the past nine years at UA, about his daughter's talent.

Harvey had been searching for a girl named Johnson from Vacaville after hearing of her from her ex-high school coach in California.

So when Ray called, the name clicked in Harvey's head, and she was invited down. Harvey must have liked what he saw because he immediately began to recruit her.

While competing in high school, Johnson grew to dislike the longer hurdle events and lost her desire to run them. So, when she arrived at UA, she expected to run the 100-meter hurdles and the two relay events because of her great speed. During her freshman year she did just that, except for running the 400 meters one time. It just happened to be that the one time was the fastest time of the year, 1:03.95, of any UA woman athlete, but Johnson still wanted nothing to do with that race.

"I about died in that race. It made me so tired. I hated that race," she said.

So the following season, she ran it a few more times and managed to run a 58.47 at a last-chance meet. That effort was good enough to get her a spot at the NCAA Outdoors, where she finished eighth.

"After my sophomore year, Coach Harvey told me that, 'This is your race. You are a 400 hurdler,' and I was like, 'That's nice, whatever,'" Johnson said.

Last year, Johnson changed her tune on the race after getting a taste of success, and now she says she loves the 400 hurdles.

At the 1995 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Johnson earned All-American honors with her seventh-place finish. Her fastest time last season was a third-place showing at the Pacific 10 Conference Championships.

Her effort at the Pac-10s also qualified her for the Olympic Festival and the USA Mobil Track and Field Championships later that summer.

Harvey said it was at the Mobil event when Johnson realized what kind of talent she had and where she fit in on the world track scene.

"With her physical ability and her personality, she definitely has the chance to be in track for a long time," Harvey said.

Johnson's goal this year is to make the Olympic team, but she knows that her times must come down in both the hurdle events. She has automatically qualified for the trials in the 400-meter hurdles and is provisionally qualified in the 100-meter hurdles.

"Michelle is running really well right now, and she has the ability to make major drops in time," Harvey said.

Going to the Olympic Games is something that Johnson said she joked about often when she was younger, but this summer she will get her opportunity to go, and she is determined not to be intimidated.

"I try not to pay attention to who is in my race, because they don't intimidate me," Johnson said. "It all comes down to the race, it doesn't matter what's on paper."