BiHwaa»aM )age 1: tiabled .S Stuff: s, and ont n>l ofthej d to l* irly in si leads lega left, jilbert ded ogs 3 left ting the last page Monday, January 16, 1984/The Battalion/Page 17 Photo finish Less than inch splits top runners at marathon's controversial finish build on skills holiday break By KAY MALLETT Sports writer The Texas A&M men’s bas- letball learn spent most of the Christmas holidays on the road, ds put juildingits record to 8-6 for the ieasonand 2-1 in the conference jefore the Houston game. Coach Shelby Metcalf said he team used the pre- — tht . Giles, lo Iks M haul h exedi onference season to work on its amworl took 12 he Aj| .dense nan-to-man defense and to get n shape. “We need lo get fundamen- ally sound and then we can mild on that,” he said. “Regard- Ifense.i essof what you end up with, you kept ten ilways rely on your bread and heirouitfjutter.” The Aggies travelled to Sloomington, Ind. for the ive slrai fenth Annual Indiana Classic in Dec. 16-17. A&M lost the first game in he tourney against Indiana, but capital inished the tournament with a swflvin over Utah State. “Utah was probably the best [ante we played this year,” Mel- alfsaid. “Kenny Brown shot ex- remely well. He’s not a streak hooter, but when he gets his hythm, he can’t miss.” Brown and Jimmie Gilbert ed A&M in points and re- 'ounds respectively and Brown cceived all-tournament honors. ys sunn )l. "1 The Music City Invitational Tournament in Nashville, Term., saw the Aggies experi ence another first-game setback with a loss to South Florida. The Aggies finished that tournament with a win against Air Force. Brown was high point in both tournament games and was again elected all tournament. Southwest Conference com petition began Jan. 4 against the Rice Owls in Houston. A&M won its conference opener 52-47 with a game that was characterized by five lead changes in the first half. The Aggies led steadily throughout the second half. The second conference game resulted in a 77-54 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayette ville. Gilbert and Darnell Wil liams led the Aggies in scoring with 13 points each. A&M played the first of five home games Jan. 9 in a non conference match against Ange lo State. The 2,000 plus fans were not disappointed as A&M leapt to a nine point lead late in the first half. The Aggies upped their con ference record to 2-1 with a 63- 52 home court win over the Baylor Bears. “It was a good win for us,” Metcalf said. “Todd Holloway had his best game in a long time and Gilbert just keeps getting better.” Metcalf said the team had ma tured a lot in the last two weeks. “1 think we’re probably ahead of the schedule to be honest,” he said. Two weeks ago the Aggies wouldn’t have been able to play the game against the Cougars that they played, Metcalf said. United Press International HOUSTON — English mid dle-distance runner Charlie Spedding ran down Italian Olympic marathoner Massimo Magnani in the final three miles and lunged ahead of him at the tape Sunday to win the 12th Houston Marathon in a close finish that Magnani disputed. Race officials, who did not have an official camera to decide in such a case, huddled for 15 minutes before awarding the $20,000 first prize to the En glishman. He was timed in 2:11:53 in the first marathon he has ever run. Magnani was listed in a time of 2:1 1:54, but the distance be tween the two runners at the tape was no more than an inch, judges said. Spedding said he could not say for sure who had won. Mag nani said he knew. “I hit the tape first and car ried it on my chest,” he said. Magnani, a two-time Olym pian who finished better than 14th at Montreal and Moscow, said he will protest the outcome lo The Athletic Congress, which sanctioned the race, and the In ternational Association of Athle tic Federations. Norway’s Ingrid Kristiansen, running in 36-degree cold that she said reminded her of the weather at home, easily outdis tanced the women in the 4,000- person field to win in a course- record 2:27:51, more than five minutes better than the winning time she posted a year ago while three-months pregnant. In the mens division, Mark Finucane of Johnson City, Ind., was third in 2:11:55 and John Wellerding of Bettendorf, Iowa, was fourth in 2:12:05. Three others runners beat 2:13:00. From the mid-point of the race on, Magnani, a two-time Olympic marathoner, traded the lead with Wellerding. At the 23-mile sign, the two were 75 yards ahead of 15 runners. From there, however, Sped ding began making up ground. He blew past Wellerding and then in final 50 yards he made up three strides on Magnani. He did not lead until the final step. “Four judges at the finish line saw Spedding the winner,” race director David Hannah said. “They all said he lunged at the tape and hit it first with his chest.” Hannah’s official statement came an hour after he met with judges. In the huddle where the winner was decided, U PI learned two judges closest to the finish said Spedding won but could not be sure. They said the) would be satisfied to call the race a draw. Moments later, an unidenti fied judge said he talked to two other persons right at the finish, and they said Spedding hit the tape first. That news changed the group’s opinion, and Han nah awarded the race to Sped- ding. A pleased Spedding, of Durham in northeast England, said his training as a 10- kilometer runner taught him at the finish to run through the tape and not just to it. “I’m obviously very pleased with the way I ran. This race was an experiment with me just to see what I could do,” he said. “This convinces me I should try to make the Olympic team.” In 1982, Spedding won the British 10,000 meter champion ship. Until the final seconds Sunday, he never considered that he could win. “I thought was running for third from about 18 miles on. The two guys were so far ahead,” he said. Of the finish, he said, “I didn’t know who' won. As I’ve been taught, you look straight ahead and run straight at the crowd. I didn’t know where the finish line was. I wasn’t looking for it.” He said in the moments after the race, he looked at Magnani and shrugged as if to say he did not know who won. “I knew' that I passed him, but 1 didn’t know if it was in time. 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