Who the heck is George Zimmerman witness Jane Surdyka? Witness who says she would have been Olympic marathoner?

May have been able to beat out Lynn Petronella for a spot.

2:47:57 London 1980 for 124th place, 2:56:18 NYC marathon in 1982 for 66th female. She was certainly good for the time but it is safe to say she greatly exaggerated her background. Defense should jump on her credibility if they are smart.

General Zod wrote:

I think its safe to say she may not have been the best woman's runner in the US in the 1980s, but she was very good and is not trying to deceive anyone.

Why do you believe that she is not trying to deceive anyone?

Here is a message board on which one "Jayne Surdyka" describes herself as "an Exercise Physiologist M.A. and former Olympic athlete":

Do you have any reason to believe that her statement is true? Would you concede that, at the very least, it appears deceptive? And if someone falsely (or deceptively) describes herself as a former Olympic athlete, and later makes similar statements under oath, isn't such self-aggrandizement relevant to her credibility as a witness for the prosecution in a high-profile, nationally broadcast trial where her testimony will make her the center of attention for a while?

Wasn't the 1st Olympic marathon for women in 1984 when Joan Benoit won?

How could she have been picked for the marathon in 1980 when no one ran the women's marathon at the Olympics in 1980?

I don't think women ran anything over the 1500m at the 1980 Olympics.

She once did did a trail run on Hurricane Ridge in Washington's OLYMPIC Mountains. So she is an OLYMPIC athlete!

Plus she had her fingers crossed when she testified.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

May have been able to beat out Lynn Petronella for a spot.

For those who don't know the reference:

Letsrun Archivist wrote:

Mr. Obvious wrote:

May have been able to beat out Lynn Petronella for a spot.

For those who don't know the reference:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2215135&page=0http://www.itsawomansworld.tv/#/lynn-petronella/4530489398http://www.amazon.com/KNOW-WHERE-RUN-AMERICAN-ODYSSEY/dp/1410799409/ref=sr_1_1/177-0211917-9580244?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372272160&sr=1-1

Wow, looking at those links makes me think she's the same person LOL. Never heard of Lynn Petronella before, thanks for the links, especially the LetsRun thread

Jane actually was a very good runner.I remember her training in 82-83 in Orlando with the first Marathon Trials being her goal. She ran for the University of Florida and went on to become the Cross Country Coach at UCF.

There is a minor mix up on dates is all I can say.She certainly is no fraud.

I ran the Tangerine Bowl/Citrus Bowl Half Marathons for about 25 years and I remember that name from the results - she won in a few times I think. I have the results in my running box somewhere or other. Pretty sure it was in the late 70's or early 80's. The boys at Track Shack would know for sure.

mwsss wrote:

Jane actually was a very good runner.I remember her training in 82-83 in Orlando with the first Marathon Trials being her goal. She ran for the University of Florida and went on to become the Cross Country Coach at UCF.

There is a minor mix up on dates is all I can say.She certainly is no fraud.

There are a lot of very good runners. There are few Olympians. In order to claim to be an Olympian you need to have competed at an Olympics, or at the very least have been selected to compete at an Olympics by your country but couldn't because of injury, boycott, or whatever. Otherwise, you are a liar.

well, she didn't make it to the Olympic marathon trials in 1984, so how is she a former Olympic athlete?

Looks like she's in to tennis now:

http://www.loveatfirstserve.com/index.php?page=view_profile&id=848

Mr. Obvious wrote:

May have been able to beat out Lynn Petronella for a spot.

Or Rosie Ruiz!

mwsss wrote:

There is a minor mix up on dates is all I can say.She certainly is no fraud.

What, exactly, is the "minor mix up on dates"? If she says that she is a "former Olympic athlete" who was unable to run in the Olympic marathon because of a boycott, isn't that just patently false? How does one even construe those claims in a way that makes them nothing more than a "minor mix up"? Is she mixed up about being a former Olympic athlete? Is she mixed up about being unable to run in an Olympic marathon because of a boycott? And if she's mixed up about stuff like that, and is mixed up about things like the number of shots fired on the night of the killing, mightn't she be mixed up about which stranger's voice yelled out in the dark?

I'm assuming this is her, listed here Class of 1997, "Jayne Surdyka BS 1977". Does this make her "an Exercise Physiologist M.A."?

http://hhp.ufl.edu/index.php/about/legacy-of-excellence/notable-alumni/

bowbridge wrote:

I ran the Tangerine Bowl/Citrus Bowl Half Marathons for about 25 years and I remember that name from the results - she won in a few times I think. I have the results in my running box somewhere or other. Pretty sure it was in the late 70's or early 80's. The boys at Track Shack would know for sure.

Those results are linked up above. She ran like a 1:21 and 1:23 or something like that. Those are fine times but not anywhere close to Olympic territory.

No Drsssh you are missing the point.She WAS qualified for the first Olympic Marathon Trials for the 84 team.She was actively training for that race when I knew her.WHen the Olympic Boycott came down prior to the 80 games it didn't just happen the week of the trials.There were whispers about that being possible sixteen months prior.People were having to decide whether to keep training or get a job and get on with their lives. Not any easy decision when you had dedicated years of your life to chasing such a dream.If you don't understand how a boycott of the 80 games could have affected someones preparation for the 84 games I can't help you.How many people remember exactly what THEY did thirty years ago ? That shouldn't be an out for those who want to discredit her testimony.

mwsss wrote:

She WAS qualified for the first Olympic Marathon Trials for the 84 team.

WHen the Olympic Boycott came down prior to the 80 games it didn't just happen the week of the trials.There were whispers about that being possible sixteen months prior.

If you don't understand how a boycott of the 80 games could have affected someones preparation for the 84 games I can't help you.

I can't say if she did/did not qualify for the 84 Trials but she definitely did not run them according to the results.

The 80 Boycott was not even "whispered about" 16 months prior. You are talking Spring 1979 - the Soviets did not invade (the cause of the boycott) until the end of the year. Carter did not make it official until about a month later.

A boycott in 1980 should not affect the athletes for 1984. It is FOUR YEARS later. Besides, it isn't like they were worried we may boycott the 84 Games - we hosted them.

I can't say any of this discredits her testimony but you must be 100% truthful when under oath. I can't even see the relevance of her supposed Olympic status. I guess the lawyer asked this thinking that an all-woman jury may feel an Olympic woman would be more credible for some reason. There is a certain respect given to those who hold the title "Olympian." She just seems to have embellished her background a little bit. If the defense catches this and exploits it, it could really hurt her credibility. If she lies, OK, is "less than truthful", when discussing her own background, how truthful is she when she discusses what she saw the night of the murder.

Anyway, I think she really hurt her own credibility when she said she heard three shots. Both the prosecution and defense agree only one was fired.

I knew Jane pretty well in college. She was the first female (there were 3 that year) on the SCSU cross country team. Most schools did not have women's cross at the time. She was very good and would have been nationally ranked in the late 70's early 80's. Her BS in '77 may have been from SCSU. I thought she went to Florida after that to pursue her degree in exercise physiology.

I recall her showing up in the top results of several big races including the Avon International Marathon. She may have been one of the US runners sent to Europe by Avon to race. Olympian? No. Olympic level? Possibly. Also saw her partying with Joanie at the Avon 10k? in NYC when Joanie had a few too many and would sneek up on guys dancing and bite them on the ass. There was mention of this in an article in Running Times or Runner in the late 70's/early 80's.