By Glen Farley, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Traci Perry is on track for success at Bridgewater State University.

"Right now," BSU women's track & field head coach Mike Salem said, "she is probably our best short sprinter."

One of 16 freshmen on the Bears' roster of 46, the Middleboro High School product truly has shot out of the starting blocks at BSU.

Why, the sudden impact she's had at the collegiate level has even come as "a big surprise" to Perry herself.

The way Salem sees it, Perry's burst onto the scene at Bridgewater State has been a case of potential translating into immediate production.

"Certainly out of high school we knew Traci was talented," the coach said. "We were very excited to have her as a part of our team. We were very lucky to have a really great freshman class come in to help complement the returnees that we have. It's really helped us kind of bring the program to the next level. They've done a great job.

"Traci is incredibly talented. She was pretty talented in high school and has done a really great job of adapting to college life and having to balance college academics and a college schedule with trying to be able to train and perform at a high level.

"I can't say that all freshmen have that kind of transition, but Traci's done a great job of being able to maintain that balance," said Salem. "She's commuting and she's a very busy person, and the fact that she's able to continue to train at a really high quality and perform and execute has just been fantastic."

Already this season, Perry has been selected the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Outdoor Track and Field Rookie of the Week twice, qualified for the Division 3 New England Championships in both the 100-meter dash and the 200 meters, and ran a leg on the Bears' 4x100-meter relay team that qualified for the ECAC Division 3 Championships.

In her most recent outing, Perry placed second in the 200 meters (with a time of 25.69) and contributed to a second-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay as the Bears took the team title at the eighth annual Eastern Connecticut State University Invitational on Friday.

All of that has been an extension of the indoor season when Perry earned MASCAC Rookie of the Week honors for her performance at Boston University's David Hemery Valentine Invitational and helped the Bears win their first indoor conference title with a school indoor record time of 7.57 seconds in the 55-meter dash.

The way Perry looks at it, the shorter events play to her strength, her instincts.

"I think when it gets to the longer events – I've raced the 400 a couple of times – that's definitely all like mind games for me," she said. "When I get to the short events, I just feel really confident because I know I can't really think about it. Once it gets to longer events, I kind of psyche myself out a little bit."

As fast as she's been on the track, Perry has been just as swift in the classroom, making the Dean's List her first semester at BSU.

"Being able to make that transition from high school to college with the course load, that's the most impressive part," said Salem. "To be able to kind of find that balance in your life allows you to improve yourself on the track and that's what she's been able to do."

A three-sport athlete at Middleboro High, Perry earned Enterprise All-Scholastic honors in both field hockey (a four-year varsity member, she was team MVP her senior year) and winter track (she set the school record in the 300 meters and was part of school record-setting 4x200 and 4x400 relay teams) and carried her speed to the center-field position for the Sachems during a three-year career at the varsity level in softball.

"I like keeping busy," said Perry. "I've played sports all my life. I think if I stay busy I get more done."

Now, Perry is literally driven to succeed.

"College was a big adjustment from high school, but I like it," she said. "Commuting's a little hard – I don't really enjoy driving back and forth – but I like being at home with my family (parents Walter and Ellie; older sisters Michelle and Laura no longer live at home) and it's saving money."

Although she's managed to step up to the competition, Perry says she's found the talent she's facing a step up in competition.

"It's like everyone's an all-star now," she said. "It's the top people in high school all in college now. Everyone's pushing you in every event you're in, but I like the competition."

In the short term, Perry plans to spend her summer working out on her own, while babysitting and working in the kitchen at the Shaw Home for the Aged in Middleboro.

In the long term, she hopes to pursue a career that would keep her involved in physical conditioning.

"I want to stay with sports, either (as a trainer) or working with a clinic," said Perry. "I kind of like physical therapy as my goal, probably a mix of things.

"In high school, I really got close to our trainer (Tara Morano) and thought her job was like the coolest ever. I loved her job. I always kind of hung around in her office and it kind of made me more interested in it."

After watching her burst upon the scene, Salem is interested in seeing how far Perry can advance over the course of her career at BSU.

"I think with the potential to grow that she has, in her time in college she will be very competitive regionally among Division 3 competitors and maybe even throughout all colleges in the region," said Salem. "If she works hard at it, I think she'll be able to take herself where she wants to go."