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Provo • After the NCAA outdoor track and field championships conclude this summer in Eugene, Ore., BYU star Shea Martinez-Collinsworth has a score to settle.

With her husband.

You've probably heard of him. First name is Kyle. Played basketball for the Cougars. Currently training in Las Vegas for June's NBA draft after setting an NCAA record with 12 triple-doubles at BYU.

It seems the couple — Mr. Triple Double and one of the fastest 400- and 800-meters athletes the school has ever produced — had a little footrace, about 60 meters or so, on the beach in Hawaii during their honeymoon in June of 2015.

"He killed me," Martinez-Collinsworth says. "He's about 7 inches taller than me, and it showed."

So, Mrs. Collinsworth says, the rematch will take place in less than two months, and it will be at least 400 meters, "and hopefully I will get him back."

And it won't be on sand.

That little anecdote makes it sound like one of the many athletic power couples that have sprung up on BYU's campus the past few years is ultra-competitive with one another. But the opposite is actually true. They cooperate to bring out the best in each other.

"People ask me all the time if we are competitive," Martinez-Collinsworth says. "Not at all, actually. If anything, we just try to help each other, like giving each other massages after a long day, or making each other a smoothie or something like that. We are each other's biggest supporter, biggest fan."

A junior, Martinez-Collinsworth shined for the Cougars her first two seasons in both indoor and outdoor track, but this spring she has taken it to another level. She ran 2 minutes and 3.21 seconds in the 800 meters at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz., on April 9 in her 2016 outdoor debut, the fastest time in the nation to date in that event this spring and the fourth-fastest in school history.

"Certainly, she has a shot at becoming the best-ever in the 800 at BYU," says Shane, who has coached for 36 years and produced six national champions in the 800, indoor and outdoor combined, at the school.

That's one of Martinez-Collinsworth's long-term goals, along with winning a national championship and making it to the Olympics four years from this summer in Tokyo.

Short term, she would like to place in the top three at nationals and creep closer to the school record of 2:00.50, set by Julie Jenkins in 1987.

"I'm just kind of working my way up, slowly but surely," she says. "Even though those goals are long-term, I work hard for them every day."

While BYU's all-time leader in rebounds and assists will surely get his comeuppance in mid-June, his wife — the couple first met in the weight room at the Student Athlete Building on campus a few months after Kyle suffered a devastating ACL injury — has been outrunning boys since her days at Heritage Elementary School in Layton.

"I just remember at recess, beating all the guys," she says.

That's when the daughter of Anthony and Evelyn Martinez first realized she was fast, and she later blossomed at Davis High under the tutelage of coach Corbin Talley, whom she credits with turning her into a high school All-American and one of the most-recruited female track athletes the state of Utah has ever produced.

Now, Shane and BYU sports psychologist Dr. Craig Manning are helping her excel on the national level, trimming second after second off her personal bests.

Mostly, Shane says, "it is talent and hard work" that have gotten her this far.

"She is blessed genetically with tremendous talent," Shane says. "The way she moves, the way she is wired, is a genetic gift as well. The way she flows when she runs is a beautiful sight."

Except on the beach.

Twitter: @drewjay —

Top BYU women's 800 meters (outdoor) times

Athlete Time Date Location

Julie Jenkins 2:00.50 June 26, 1987 San Jose, Calif.

Nachelle Stewart Mackie 2:01.06 June 8, 2012 Des Moines, Iowa

Lacey Cramer 2:03.01 April 18, 2009 Sacramento, Calif.

Shea Martinez-Collinsworth 2:03.21 April 8, 2016 Tempe, Ariz. —

Top BYU women's 800 meters (outdoor) times

Athlete Time Date Location

Julie Jenkins 2:00.50 June 26, 1987 San Jose, Calif.

Nachelle Stewart Mackie 2:01.06 June 8, 2012 Des Moines, Iowa

Lacey Cramer 2:03.01 April 18, 2009 Sacramento, Calif.

Shea Martinez-Collinsworth 2:03.21 April 8, 2016 Tempe, Ariz.