European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 16, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thomas juggling around ice career sunday March 16, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 25 by Steve Wilstein Stanford Calif. A frustrated by trying to juggle training and freshman pre med studies at Stanford Debi Thomas angrily Tore up her entry forms for the . Figure skating championships eight week before the event. After a talk with her coach she changed her mind. Her Mother taped the forms Back together ironed them and Thomas sent themis. Now she s the women s Champion the first Black Ever to win a seniors title in the sport and one of the favourites in the world championships which begin monday in Geneva. But the pressure continues off the ice. There s the enormous Drain of Money the Lack of sleep from trying to mesh schoolwork and training plus the added de mands of the National Media. I m concerned How Shell keep her sanity through All this How Well All keep our sanity her Mother Janice said. I worry about her taking her vitamins about getting enough sleep. She s on the Edge of doing what a body can do and she has to keep her head Sharp and her body Strong. But if anybody s capable of doing it she  Thomas 18 of san Jose Calif., started skating at 5 and has been been competing since she was 11, training six to eight hours Day six Days a week. Her Mother drove 3,000 Miles a month during those years taking Thomas to Les sons Back and Forth to High school and Back Home while holding Down a Job As a senior computer programming analyst. Thomas studied during the rides or dozed and still emerged with High enough grades to get accepted by Stanford the University of California at Berkeley Harvard and Prince ton. She chose Stanford partly because it was close to Home and the ice rink. A vivacious teen with Many friends Thom As Calls mondays and wednesdays her Sui cide Days because she has classes in advanced calculus chemistry and Western culture then practices from 1 15 . To 7 45 . An sport is television College basketball Mcaa tournament teams to be announced6 . And 10 . Sunday. Radio College basketball Mcaa tournament teams to be announced3 games starting at 6 . Her coach Alex Mcgowan has tried to convince her she should give up College but going to school helps keep me sane Thomas said. Not since Tenley Albright reigned As the . Women s Champion from 1952 to 1956 has a leading female skater attended  competing. Thomas wants something to fall Back on. You can t guarantee a career in  she does plan to take a year off to pre pare for the 1988 Calgary olympics but then wants to get her degree go to medical school arid become an orthopaedic surgeon. Coincidentally Albright also chose a medi Cal career and is a surgeon in Boston. Debi sets the goals for what she wants to do mrs. Thomas said. I try to see that she gets what she needs. But i be told her there s no Way she s going to be a Black female and not have a  the Cost of keeping Thomas in skates has been tremendous up to $25,000 a year for lessons and ice time plus thousands More for travel costumes and equipment. Mrs. Thomas who is divorced said she earns about $35,000 a year. The rest comes from Thomas father and grandparents her older brother and various Grants or Loans. Her Stanford education costs about $16,000 a year for tuition room and Board with school and state Aid amounting thoroughly $9,000. We be missed a few mortgage payments but we be managed mrs. Thomas said. In High school Thomas was accustomed to getting a s or b s. At Stanford she was shocked to get two b s and a c in chemistry. She missed Over 20 percent of her classes during the fall Quarter because of two major International competitions two exhibitions and a Benefit for Charity mrs. Thomas said. Plus there were television people and magazines calling. It was pretty wild. She thought maybe this really in t possible to go to school and to  Thomas stopped training for two months something almost unheard of in the sport so she could concentrate on schoolwork. She also had minor surgery in december and gained 15 pounds. The Day after Christmas she got totally frustrated her Mother said. She Crum pled up the forms for the National championships and Tore them  but Mcgowan changed her mind Over the Telephone. Thomas went Back to work shed the excess weight on her 5-foot-6 Frame and won the . Title with an energetic and Graceful performance that brought people to their feet at Nassau coliseum in Uniondale,. Usa eur s Brian Skinner. Adds nordic Cross country title to his list Skinner s sweep keys Usa eur ski Triumph Kaltenbrunne Germany Brian Skinner completed a sweep in the men s seniors division with a Victory in the 15 Kilometre Cross country race in the All services ski Competition Here saturday. Skinner whose five championships helped give Usa eur a big Edge in the three service Competition clocked 56 04.08 to finish just Over 3 minutes ahead of us afe s Steve Palm in the seniors division race. Palm clocked 59 06.70 to take second place. Usa eur s Jed Anderson finished third in 1 06 10.82. Saturday s Cross country race completed four Days of Competition. The first two Days featured Alpine events with nordic Competition completing the meet. Skinner took the slalom giant slalom Alpine combined seniors and nordic 2.6-Kilometer sprint titles in the earlier Competition. Usa eur won the nordic Competition with a two Day total of 196 Points. Safe followed with 68. Navy was third with 15. The nordic course featured 4-Kilometer loops. The Slick surface favored those who use the skating technique a Strong Point of Skinner s style. Usa eur dominated the men s open division taking the first six places sat urday. Randy Sapp who won Friday s nor Dic sprint added another Crown when he raced in with a time of 46 53.05. Tim Fisk was next with 50 24 40, barely ahead of John Saufley whose time was 50 30.26. John Harrison was fourth in 52 06.26 followed by de Byrne with 53 40.59 and Thomas Lingle with 56 54.34. Gil Dodson and Andrea Frenette Cap tured the men s masters and women s title respectively to give Usa eur a sweep of saturday s events. Dodson outclassed the 40-and-Over Field with a time of 36 01.29 in the 10-Kilometer race. Rocky Freeman of the Navy took second in 42 35 29. Us afe s Hans Gazecki was third in 43 13 10. Frenette encountered Little Competition in the women s race. She finished in 39 58.71, Well ahead of teammate Linda Naccarato who came in with 46 53.16. Safe s Sha Ron Antisdel took third in 49 52.69. By Harry Atkins Lakeland Fla. A John killer who fought Back from a heart attack to become one of the baseball s Best Relief pitchers thought he was doing the right thing getting out of the game before he really had to. He stood in front of the Detroit dugout and applauded the Tiger fans in 1980, the night it was announced he was leaving. But now six years three business Ven Tures and two marriages later Hiller has quietly returned to baseball As a pitching coach in the tigers minor league system. He can be found every morning in the giant Green shed where the minor leagues dress in Tiger town across the drive from the modern Concrete Park where the big club works out. He pulls the uniform Over a still trim body about 9 ., sneaking a couple of smokes cupping them in his hand so the Young players in the other room won t see. At 10  Every player in the tigers farm system is lumbering up and Hiller is Brackat what he loves Best baseball. When i retired i probably could have played a Little longer said Hiller who will be 43 in april. I guess i missed putting the uniform  at first Hiller tried Selling life insurance then farming in Michigan s upper Peninsula and finally running a country store in Florida. But nothing seemed right. So Hiller wrote a letter to Jim Campbell the president of the tigers and asked for a Job. Campbell helped induct Hiller into the Canadian sports Hall of Fame last autumn and the two talked about it in some detail. Campbell said of and Hiller reported for work a few weeks ago. It s been fun Hiller said. Just being around ballplayers regardless of Ages that atmosphere around athletes is so much fun. Just putting a uniform on again in a professional capacity is As exciting As  Hiller himself was about the most exciting thing the tigers had going Many time during the 1970s. Following his heart attack in 1971, which caused him to miss i i seasons Hiller came after 6 years Back to establish a major league record of 38 saves in 1973. The following year he set a record for victories by a Relief Pitcher 17. He finished his career with 125 saves still a Tiger record. You want to know something All of our doctors warned us not to allow John to come Back after that heart attack Camp Bell remembered. He was working out with our top farm club. I went Down there and took him up in the stands. I tried for Over an hour to fire him to Tell him he was finished. He said he absolutely would t give it up. So i said nuts to it then and ordered him up to the big club. He pitched against Chicago the next  Hiller remembered that game against the White sox. That was my biggest thrill just coming Back after the heart attack Hiller said. Richie Allen hit a Home run off me the first Batter. But i threw three strikes and iwas so Happy. I got two by him. I did t care. I knew i could do it aft Rall that time. I was  he appears to be Happy now. Hiller and his second wife Linette own a 40-acre farm in the upper Peninsula near Hermansville. She travels with him As he makes the rounds of the tigers five minor league clubs. Hiller said he does t aspire to be any thing More than what he is. He said he would t want to coach in the big leagues because his wife could t travel with him. I think i would get More satisfaction working with 40 or 50 kids seeing them come along the next four or five years Hiller said. Correction a fast pitch softball Story in Friday stars and stripes incorrectly labelled the euro Pean fast pitch softball league the Usa eur fast pitch travelling league. Usa eur does t have a travelling league. Usa eur level Competition is not open to civilians who Are eligible for the travelling league mentioned in the Story. We regret this error