BURRELL'S ON HER OWN PATH; RESEDA'S PAN AM MEDALIST SCORES BIG IN HEPTATHLON.

Byline: Tina Forde Special to the Daily News

The legacy of Jackie Joyner-Kersee looms large in the heptathlon, the seven-event sport that tests the well-roundedness of an athlete.

``Do you know how long it will take someone to score 7,291 points?'' said Shelia Burrell, the silver-medal heptathlon winner at the Pan American Games, about Joyner-Kersee's world-record total. ``That's amazing. That's why she's my idol.''

Burrell - no relation to sprinter Leroy - makes it clear she is not trying to follow in Joyner-Kersee's footsteps. The retired champion's accomplishments provides a basis for comparison, but Burrell has her own style and her own goals.

Burrell's scores in four of the seven events were better than those of gold-medal winner M. Garcia Leliebre. Burrell outscored her in the hurdles, the 200, the long jump and the 800, but Leliebre (6,290 points) had more points than Burrell (6,244) after beating her in the high jump, shot put and javelin.

The 27-year-old Burrell lives in Reseda and trains at Cal State Northridge, where she is an assistant track coach. She lettered in volleyball, basketball and track at South Valley High in Albuquerque, N.M., and attended UCLA on a track scholarship. Her coach at UCLA was Bob Kersee, Joyner-Kersee's husband and coach.

``UCLA was the only school that recruited me as a heptathlete,'' she said. For three years, she competed as a sprinter and hurdler.

``I like the event,'' she said. ``The only thing about what I do is that it takes a certain amount (of effort) to get it all right. I have five competitions a year. To score the maximum, you have to score your best in all events. Sometimes it's an emotional roller coaster.''

After graduation she fell into what she calls the dreaded ``post-collegiate black hole'' - that period in which a track athlete does not have money or a coach, but wants to continue competing.

``All this was swirling around,'' she said. ``I moved to Santa Barbara to train with a coach. I quit my job as a personal trainer and started coaching high school track while I was there. In the 1996 (heptathlon) Olympic trials I did horrible. I can hardly even remember the experience. I took 1997 off.

``I was frustrated, put out, not knowing where to go. I wanted to run but I didn't know how to make it to the next level without help.''

Burrell moved to the Valley, working out and then jogging from Gold's Gym in Northridge to the track at CSUN. There she met her current coach, Jeff McAuley, the sprints and hurdles coach at Northridge.

``He said, `Your name is Shelia Burrell. I have never coached multis before but I think you can be good.' I think God meant for him to be my coach.''

She has been training with McAuley for two years and is ranked sixth in the world.In May, she placed third at the IAAF Challenge in Gotzis, Austria, with 6,266 points. Her personal best is 6,294.

The heptathlon consists of the 100-meter hurdles, the high jump, shot put, 200-meter run, long jump, javelin and 800-meter run.

For Burrell, the high jump is the most difficult. ``I am not as technically proficient in it as I would like to be,'' she said.

At the Goodwill Games last summer in New York, she ``no-heighted'' (missed the minimum height) in the high jump and placed seventh. But the experience was not a bad one.

``I got to hang out with Jackie (Joyner-Kersee) and encourage her. It was the best experience in the world. It was her last competition and nobody thought she could win.''

At the World Championships in Seville, Spain, in three weeks, Burrell will have a chance to put herself to the test. And if she stays healthy, she hopes to qualify for Sydney at the Olympic trials next June in Sacramento.