ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 2, 1996 TAG: 9610020049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER BLACKSBURG
THE CROSS COUNTRY team was following the map given them by their trainer when a car plowed into them Monday.
Blacksburg High School's principal said cross country runners were exactly where they were supposed to be when a freak accident sent a car hurtling into four of nine team members Monday afternoon on a South Main Street sidewalk.
Alfred Smith said the students were running a nine-mile course, mapped by their coach, that keeps them on back roads as much as possible.
A runner who crashed through the car's windshield remained at Columbia Montgomery Regional Hospital in stable condition Tuesday, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Charles Cade, 16, of Blacksburg, broke his shoulder and leg.
The three other injured runners - Rapfeal Gray, 16; John D. Patterson, 17; and Bryce L. Gyer, 17 - were treated and released, the hospital spokeswoman said.
Town police said Tuesday that the teen-age driver of a van that caused the car to hit the runners probably will be ticketed for making an improper turn.
Lt. Bruce Bradbery would not release the name of the 17-year-old boy - also a Blacksburg High School student - who was driving the van owned by New River Office Supply. But Bradbery said he expects the citation to be issued.
Police said the van changed lanes and ran into a car driven by a Christiansburg woman.
The van was stopped in the left turn lane of the 2400 block of South Main Street - in front of the U.S. Forest Service office - facing south, when the teen-ager decided to change lanes. The van hit a southbound car and forced it onto the sidewalk, where it hit the runners, police said.
The posted speed limit in that stretch of South Main is 45 mph.
The car's driver, Kimberly S. Alley, her 10-year-old son, Joseph Weaver, and 7-year-old daughter, Ashley Weaver, were injured in the accident. A hospital spokeswoman said they were all released after treatment.
The high school principal admitted there are hazards when the students run, but he said this accident could have happened to anyone.
Smith said the team members are given a list of rules concerning practice and are expected to follow those rules right down to where to cross the street.
"The coach draws out what we consider the safest route," Smith said. "You can't have a long-distance running team without letting them run."
Smith said the accident affected everyone involved, including the teen driving the van. A school counselor met with the boy and his father Tuesday, Smith said.
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