Former Sportswoman of the year Marian Burnette set the Armory stadium humming when she strode to her personal best 800 metres time at the Classic indoor Meet of Champions meet in New York last Saturday.

According to reports, the Guyana Police Force athlete clocked 2 minutes 06.07 seconds to win the event and better her previous best mark of 2:06.08 (outdoor) and 2:08.09 (indoor).

Representing Louisiana State University, Burnette also ran the fastest 800 metres time for collegiate women on the track.

"It was the fastest I ever ran and I felt a duty to do well for the Guyanese spectators who were present," an excited Burnette told Stabroek News yesterday.

The performance also automatically qualified the Linden-born athlete for next month's National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) indoor championships.

Saturday's feat capped an unbeaten run in the 800 metres for Burnette who has won three races over the distance to earn the number one ranking in the early going so far, in the NCAA division one circuit.

So far she has won at the SEC Big-6, Purple Tiger Louisiana and the Adidas International competitions. Burnette also anchored her school's 4x400 team to qualification for a provisional qualification place in the NCAA indoor competition.

In her first season in division one, Burnette will be rested for this weekend's LSU Twilight meet but will return to action in the SEC Indoor Championships in Arkansas on February 23-24.