Rapid Rios

In Her Favorite Automotive fantasy, classic-car buff Leilani Rios is cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway toward Malibu Beach in a 1957 Corvette convertible in two-tone baby-blue and white. "That's my fantasy car," says the 21year-old kinesiology major at Cal State-Fullerton. Her real car has some muscle, too: The 5-foot-tall, 98-pound Rios drives a 1967 metallic-blue Mustang with a white vinyl top. "I love classic sports cars," she purrs, giving new meaning to the term autoerotic.

Rios is thrilled to be talking about anything other than the story that has put her in the national spotlight and made this shy, happily married student a persuasive argument for the legal right to dance in a strip club and run on the college track team. Her coach didn't quite see it that way.

It all started in 1999, after Rios was recruited from Cal State-San Bernardino, where she had been the number one runner her freshman year. But with no scholarship, she needed help to pay for school. She decided to try out as a nude dancer at the Flamingo, a club in Anaheim. "I've been dancing since I was four, to everything from merengue to R&B to hip-hop," she says. "I love music. So dancing onstage at a strip club was easy, totally natural to me." Plus, she knew she could make as much money dancing one or two nights a week as she could at a full-time job doing something else, leaving her plenty of time to study and run.

But one night some members of the Cal State-Fullerton baseball team visited the Flamingo and caught Leilani's act. When her coach, John Elders, found out, he kicked her off the team.

Rios was devastated. "I was always a good student," she says, "but when I got kicked off the team it was hard for me to concentrate on my studies. Every day I was at school I'd see my teammates practicing in the morning when I'd go to class, and I'd see the track team in the afternoon when I was leaving. It would kill me. For about six months I would cry every day because I couldn't be there with my teammates, running with them. My (text concluded on page 174) Leilani Rios (continued from page 91) grades went down."

Then the press took notice. Soon her story was on 20/20, CNN.com and Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. Now Rios says she's become a symbol for freedom of speech. "The dancing I do is totally legal," she explains, "and it's protected by the First Amendment. I'm not doing anything wrong."

Although she had contemplated filing a lawsuit, Rios says that all she wants is to be reinstated: "I'm hoping to be the top runner for Cal State-Fullerton. The coach is not a bad person. It's his religious beliefs, that's all. Other than that, he's a very nice guy. There may be some hard feelings at first, but I think we'll do just fine." Over the summer she was invited to rejoin the squad pending NCAA requirements.

After she graduates, Rios plans to devote herself to a career in physical therapy. Meanwhile, she will continue dancing. Her husband, Wayne, 31, is completely supportive. "He has a very good attitude about my dancing," says Rios, "and he trusts me 100 percent. Work doesn't influence my sexuality with my husband at all. He'll sometimes stop by and say hi while I'm working, but most of the time he just lets me work. He trusts me because I come home to him every day."

She emphasizes the safe atmosphere at the Flamingo club. "It's totally legal, and it's a clean club. It's upscale. There are bouncers watching you, watching the guys, making sure they don't slip up. It's safer than cocktail waitressing, where drunk guys grab the waitresses' asses. No alcohol is served there at all, so there are no guys out of control, loud, oblivious or drunk."

Dancing is fun and makes her feel sexy, says Rios. "It's actually fabulous for women." She chooses her own music and costumes. In addition to her popular Britney Spears schoolgirl look, her cowgirl outfit with chaps keeps the guys champing at the bit, while her patriotic red, white and blue stars-and-stripes ensemble makes them stand up and salute.

Rios continues to run several times a week in the hope of being back on the track team. Her dancing helps to keep her in shape, too. Leilani is proud of her petite, naturally athletic body and doesn't feel the need for any artificial enhancements. "A lot of men do actually prefer the small, petite, natural look instead of the fake boobs," she says. "Any girl can get fake boobs. People appreciate my being natural, even though I'm not a big-busted girl. I'm petite, but I still have a nice shape. Guys love my boobs."

Run to cyber. playboy. com to see video of Leilani.