THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 3, 1995 TAG: 9505030590
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
During the course of a track meet, Granby's Tanya Jones wears many different hats.
The junior competes in the high, long and triple jumps, runs the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, and anchors the 400-meter relay team.
But there's one hat she never sheds, no matter what the event. Living up to her team motto - You have to be a soldier - Jones adorns a camouflage Army hat and goes to battle for her Comets.
``They're hard, raw people who do what they have to in order to survive,'' Jones says. ``They have to go through obstacles.''
Jones, who has been through her own tough times with tendinitis, has helped Granby go from worst to first in the hunt for the Eastern District track crown.
On April 19, the Comets snapped Maury's 19-meet winning streak behind her stellar performance in the jumps, 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter relay.
And last weekend, Granby traveled to Philadelphia for the Penn Relays, where Jones and the 1600-meter relay team ran a season best 4:11, good for first place in their division of high school runners.
Amazingly, it was the first time Jones, who ran the second leg of the race, had competed in the event.
For her efforts, she has earned The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star female athlete of the week award.
``Anything you ask her to do, she'll do it without complaining,'' says Granby coach Christine Handy. ``She's a strong sprinter, and we felt pretty comfortable that she could run 400 meters. The most she usually runs is 300 meters in the hurdles. She was a little nervous about that extra 100.''
That was until she put on her Army cap and charged forth.
``I have a war mentality,'' she says. ``When I'm doing the long jump, I imagine dodging bullets. When I land in the sand, I can shoot back. In the triple jump, someone is throwing grenades at me and I'm skipping over them.''
The strategy seems to be working. Jones has jumped 17-1 in the long jump and 35-3 in the triple. She's still working on getting over the wall, better known as the high jump.
``We're working on that 5-foot,'' Handy says. ``That's our stumbling block.''
But like a good soldier, Jones keeps marching on.
``Whatever my coach asks me to do, I'll do it,'' she says. ``I may feel reluctant, but I'll do it.'' by CNB