Through the happenstance of scheduling, Magdalena Lewy became an American citizen on Sept. 11, 2001, imbuing an otherwise dark day with both poignancy and pride.

This Sunday, she will earn an opportunity to wear a Team USA uniform at this summer's Beijing Olympic Games if she finishes in the top three at the U.S. Olympic women's marathon trials in Boston. Lewy was fifth in the 2004 trials.

"It's a very special day. I remember every Sept. 11," said Lewy, a 34-year-old Cal grad and Oakland resident. "It's so much more meaningful to be part of the USA Olympic women's marathon trials. I feel I owe it to the people who lost their lives to put it all on the line to honor them."

Lewy emigrated from Poland with her family as a child and attended high school and junior college in Southern California before coming to Berkeley as a distance runner.