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Mania to play golf at University of Portland By TIM PYLE With a couple of scholarships in hand, a golf bag on her shoulder and plans to major in pre-med in her head, St. Mary's High's Katie Mania will trek to the University of Portland this fall. The 5-foot-3 senior has signed a letter-of-intent to compete for the Division I-A Pilots' women's golf team. "All the schools I looked at I was looking for a pre-med program and a women's golf team," says Mania, the two-time defending District 6 champion. "It really came down to the money issue." Portland beat out Santa Clara, Willamette and Pacific for Mania's services because the Pilots offered a $5,000 athletic scholarship for her first year in addition to an academic Presidential scholarship that is worth $9,000 over four years. Mania carries a 3.75 grade-point average and a scoring average of 81.7 per round for the Crusaders this season. "She doesn't have any weaknesses," St. Mary's head coach Bert Putney says of her golf game. "She has perhaps the most technically correct swing you'll see." Mania, who has finished 10th and 13th at the Class 3A/2A/1A state tournament the last two years, believes her game is continuing to expand. "It's improved a lot this year even since last year," she says. "I feel like I'm striking the ball more solid this year. And I'm working more on my short game around the greens. My course management is improving, basically." According to Putney, Mania's average would place her among the top golfers right now for Portland head coach Paul Hanson. Mania says she's excited to experience life in the city of Portland and reports she found the UP campus to be "really nice" during an orientation visit. Although she didn't always entertain ambitions of playing collegiate golf, Mania says "it became more important the last couple of years. "The college issue came up, and I decided to try and see if I could play golf at the college level." The Pilots are convinced she can. Reach reporter Tim Pyle at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.