Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 9, 1990 TAG: 9005080290
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV13 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CHRIS BACHELDER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: NARROWS LENGTH: Medium
Maybe it's the shoes.
Shrader's good luck charm is a ragged pair of high-tops that he's worn in every meet except one. He forgot to don the shoddy - but lucky - footwear in the All American Relays at Radford High and - you guessed it - he did not win either event, the only time that has happened all year.
Whether the shoes hold magical properties or not is a question not to be answered by mortals. However, it is easily proved that the foundation for Shrader's success and domination is hard work.
The 220-pound Shrader followed a standout season as a running back on Narrows' powerful football team with a winter spent preparing for field events this spring. By January, he'd already approached track coach David Mabry about issuing him a discus. He then spent many a less-than-balmy day training.
It paid off. Shrader has been unbeatable this season.
In the first meet of the season on April 11, he unleashed a monster discus throw of 147 feet, six inches. That throw stood as Timesland's best until last week when a Carroll County athlete Mike Alexander made a New River District record-tying toss of 155 feet.
"That's been the great throw for me," he said. "It was the first meet and I guess I was just excited. I didn't know how good it was at first, but it just kept going."
But it's not as if that one toss was a fluke. Shrader has consistently been in the 140-feet range this season, and both he and Mabry believe he is capable of beating his personal best.
Shrader won't have to worry about Alexander, who will be competing in the Group AA state meet. Plenty of weight event people will be worried about Shrader as the Group A postseason progresses. He figures to be much more of a threat than he was a year ago when he attended the state meet hampered by a cast on his broken non-throwing arm. He did not place as a discus throw of 154-10 won the event.
Mabry, in his fifth season as track coach, is someone who is not surprised by Shrader's success.
"We were looking for him to have a big year in the discus," he said. "I've had some real good athletes, but David is one of the most dominating in his field. He has dominated the discus the last two years, and this year, he has dominated in the shot put, too.
"He has great work habits. What he's done, he's done mainly on his own. I'd like to take more credit for it, but I can't."
Something that Mabry can take credit for is a talk that he and Shrader had a few years ago.
"When David was a freshman, he was sort of on the lazy side," Mabry said. "He was running with the big guys, and I told him about three times to get away from there and run more. Then he said some things to me, and I grabbed him and we went by ourselves and had a little chat. Ever since then, he's been super."
Shrader agreed that conference was helpful.
"He got me thinking about settling down, and not goofing off. I wasn't taking it seriously, I was just out there for the fun of it. I started working a lot harder."
Shortly after that, Mabry handed out the school records to his athletes. Shrader told his coach that he was going to break the discus standard.
"At the time, I didn't have kids who could throw it over 100 feet," Mabry said. "I was about to give up on discus, but David pulled it off."
Shrader has helped coach some of his younger teammates in the shot and disc while he prepared for this week's district meet at Galax. The meet is Tuesday and Wednesday.
"Hopefully, I can win it," Shrader said last week. "I've got my eye out for Derek Bryant of Auburn and Tim Bryson from Galax. Those are the guys I'll have to beat."
But it appears from this season that Shrader is the man to beat. Though he is unsure of his postseason chances, his coach thinks he has a shot at not only the district and regional titles, but the state championship as well.
"It's hard to tell because you never know who he'll be up against, but I think he's got a good chance at state," Mabry said. "He is so calm and relaxed and easygoing. He does better with pressure."
by CNB