The Louisiana State University (LSU) ½-miler failed to repeat as champion in the 800m at the U.S. NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in Arkansas, U.S.A., a few hours after Pompey’s experience.

Burnett, who earlier in the indoor season had also recorded a qualification for the England meet, had been checking the progress of her track colleagues in England “on the internet every time I am at our hotel”.

The six-hour difference between the two meets had given her the chance to keep abreast of the progress of Pompey, as well as former LSU teammates ¼ milers Ronetta Smith and Leuroy Colquhoun, and Grenadian Alleyne Francique, whose results in England all came as disappointments.

Ironically, Burnett’s unexpected defeat in her last collegiate competition is the first time that she has been beaten at the junior or senior collegiate levels. Her winning streak at 800m dated back to November 1999, and spanned some 43 heats and finals.

Contesting her signature event last Saturday, the Guyanese ‘tied-up’ in the final of four laps when she was almost certain to live up to the polls’ #1 ranking in the distance. Burnett was nearly a second short of top honours, recording 2:06.43 to gain third behind Swedish national Lina Nilsson of UCLA and Amerivcan Nicole Cook of Tennessee. She ran three of the four fastest times for the season, and went into the final with the fastest time of 2:05.33 from the heats.

It was a bitter-sweet experience for Burnett whose final representation for her college saw her lose “a race that was hers for the taking”, but still contributing points to her Lady Tigers’ winning of the women’s champion team honours.

Among the startling showings for her team was sprinter Muna Lee’s sprint double (60m & 200m) wins, including her 22.49s in the latter which broke the 21-year-old collegiate record held by Jamaican Merlene Ottey, and which is also the 2003 world’s fastest.

Her defeat was one of several upsets at the championships as favourites in the men’s 60m, 400m, 800m, triple and long jumps, as well as the women’s 400m, mile, high jump, pole vault and distance medley relay lost out to eventual winners, many of whom were not even in the reckoning.

Her LSU distance coach Mark Elliott, just like the crowd at the Randall Tyson stadium, was numbed at the performance since she was prepared to threaten the school and meet records.

The two-day meet ended as a championship of “upsets and the unexpected, along with personal, school and national records … in Marian case, she just had an uncharacteristically bad day” according to LSU head coach Pat Henry who saw more than five of his male and female athletes fall way below what was expected of them going into the meet.

The Lady Tigers repeat team title, however, improved Henry’s unmatched overall record of championships wins (11 indoor and 13 outdoor titles) to 24 in sixteen years.

Among the favourites faltering at the preliminary stages or in the finals were 2002 NCAA indoor and outdoor 400m champion Allison Beckford of Rice, defending 800m champion Outile Lekote of South Carolina and 60m hurdle champion Perdita Felicien of Illinois - all, coincidentally, non-Americans.

Most of the disappointed athletes have resolved to “putting the meet’s experiences behind and turn to the outdoor season to regain whatever lost status, now.” Burnett, however, will be competing without the privileges of a collegiate scholarship athlete since her eligibility has effectively ended with the recent meet.

Last year she was pulled from the LSU team, along with Francique, after an NCAA regulation ruled them out of outdoor collegiate competitions due to their international participation after their 21st birthdays, and before enrolment at U.S. academic institutions.