Track's class act

Allyson Felix is graceful and gracious. She has a house in Santa Clarita, a Yorkshire terrier name Chloe, is considered a "girlie girl" by her mother and has a deep appreciation of shoes and purses. High heels may not be a track athlete's best friend, but Felix will bust out the stilettos if she is attending a fancy party or an honorary dinner.

Felix, 22, is also one of the best sprinters in the world.

Last week in Qatar, Felix, in the span of 90 minutes, ran the fastest times in the world this year at 100 and 400 meters. And those aren't her best events. Felix is the defending world champion in the 200 and is preparing for the Beijing Games, where she aims to improve on the silver medal she won in Athens in 2004.

Inspiring track accomplishments. Yet Felix's parents, Marlean and Paul, are beaming over something even more significant to them than world records or gold medals. On Friday, Felix graduated from USC with a degree in elementary education.

It took Felix 4 1/2 years and she did it while competing as a full-time professional track athlete. She had been offered a USC track scholarship after graduating from Los Angeles Baptist High but decided to run as a professional instead and pay for college that way.

Felix would work out before dawn, attend class until midafternoon, train until dark and then do homework. She would fly home from a track meet in Japan or Europe or Qatar, jet-lagged and sore, and settle in to finish a paper. Through all the aches and pains, the exhaustion, Felix was determined to keep a promise she made to herself and her family. "I was getting my college degree from USC," she said. "No matter what."

In the intense heat Friday, Felix was proud to receive that degree and it was so important a moment that her coach, Bob Kersee, gave her the day off from training. "Bobby doesn't do that very often," Paul Felix said. "So good for her."

Felix will be one of the big stars at today's Adidas Track Classic at the Home Depot Center in Carson. She will run in a star-studded women's 100-meter field that is scheduled to include Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown, who was ranked No. 1 in the world in 2007; defending world silver medalist Lauryn Williams; bronze medalist Carmelita Jeter, who ran for Torrance Bishop Montgomery High and Cal State Dominguez Hills, and 2003 world champion Torri Edwards.

Felix, who will also run the 200, her signature event, has adopted an arduous program for this Olympic season.