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Show Damiani N.AIA tops Davidson attributed Damiani's win to several things. "It's her dedication and desire that got her there," he explained. "Also the lower altitude helped." Houston is right around sea-level and the extra shot of oxygen can be a big factor in distance running. It seemed to help the Chicago Heights, Illinois native. Damiani's championship cham-pionship victory in the 1500 netted her an interview in-terview with Kyle Rote Jr. and the USA Cable TV Network. The cable network filmed the championships and will show them nation-wide. The event will be seen in the Salt Lake City area tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. The 1500 win also overshadowed a fine third place finish in the 800-meters. "One hour after the 1500 she turned around and came back in the 800" Davidson stated, smiling. "She came from the next to last position to finish third." Damiani found herself boxed-in during the half-mile. half-mile. She managed to break free and run a 2:13.48, one and a half seconds behind the winning time. I wish I had her for three more years" Davidson wishfully sighed. The speedster gathered 16 points for SUSC to place the 'Birds 12th in the nation. Since this was the first year of NAIA national competition for women, all winning times are national records, Davidson explained. Two other lady Thunderbirds competed in Houston. Freshman Michelle Hubbard tied for eleventh in the high-jump, going 5-3'4. 5-3'4. Davidson has high , hopes lor the jumper, particularly since she has j never jumped before this year. . Chris Whetten tied for fourteenth in the long-jump. long-jump. Whetten leaped 17-4, 17-4, below her best of 18-1::. "The competition was awfully tough" Davidson remarked as he expressed ex-pressed pride in his team. In fni By MIKE CANNON Record Reporter What does it take to knock-off 18 seconds from a previous personal best time in the 1500-meter run and win a national championship in ' the process? Mary Damiani. The Southern Utah State College senior became the NAIA national 1500-meter champion 1 last weekend as she turned in a sizzling time of 4:32.04 to outdistance out-distance 17 other contestants con-testants in the metric-mile. metric-mile. Chopping over 4 seconds per lap off her previous bes't time of 4:50.05, Damiani finished well over six seconds ahead of the second place runner to win going away. "After the 1500 she was so excited it was unbelievable" un-believable" said an obviously ob-viously elated Coach Ben Davidson. "She impressed im-pressed everyone that was there. When she took the lead with 500 meters to go, a nearby coach commented favorably. I told them to wait till she starts to kick." Mary Damiani demonstrates her national championship cham-pionship stride. The SUSC senior placed first in the nation in the 1500-meters and third in the 800. |