Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 25, 1990 TAG: 9005240275
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV17 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JEFF MOTLEY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Virginia Tech runner was coming off his best season, capped by victories in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000-meter at the Metro Conference track meet.
Last weekend, Covington won both races again and was named the top performer in the conference meet, becoming the first distance runner to win that honor.
No big deal, right? A runner defends his titles in the conference meet.
But things haven't been easy for Covington.
The year leading to the Metro meet in Tallahassee, Fla., had been a disaster for the fifth-year senior. Covington caught pneumonia during the winter and missed the indoor season. With academic stress taking its toll, he took a month off to avoid burnout. He ran in the conference meet only to maintain his scholarship.
"I ran below my expectations in cross country and it has been all downhill ever since," Covington said. "I just totally lost my edge. My times were getting slower and slower.
"The week before the meet I ran my slowest time ever in the steeplechase, and I hadn't finished a 5K in a year," he said. "I wish I knew how to explain the fact that I won. It wasn't my fastest time by far, but it was the best I have run in a long, long time."
The mystery of it all was the sudden drop-off in Covington's performance. Nobody was more perplexed than Todd Scully.
"I had a lot of theories, but nothing seemed to be the answer," Scully said. "I think that motivation could be a factor. Tim's [motivation] varies sometimes, and he doesn't even notice it.
"I think he did so well last year . . . he didn't realize just how hard it is to repeat. He forgot what got him there, and once he started to slip, he couldn't stop it.
"Granted, though, he did have a lot of health problems in the winter. He is also a mechanical engineering major and that is not easy, which weighed on his mind. When you're academically frustrated, you don't have the mind-set you need."
Covington thought about all the possibilities his coach mentioned, but he still didn't have the answer.
"Classes were going well and I was training hard. I couldn't figure out why I was worried," Covington said. "In every race it was the same old story. I would run strong during the first half of the race and be just where I wanted to be. Then people would start running by me and there was nothing I could do to catch them."
It was at the midway point of both races in Tallahassee that the old Tim Covington - the defending conference champion - returned.
"This time I was right where I wanted to be and I just kept going," Covington said. "I took the lead and just kept going. It felt just like old times."
Nobody was more surprised than his coach.
"I really didn't know that he would be able to pull it out," Scully said. "He hadn't run a good race since last year and he had been through everything. But he was mentally ready this time and he remembered what it took to win."
Scully was just as surprised when Covington was named the meet's top performer.
"I have never heard of that award going to a distance runner," Scully said. "Usually it goes to a sprinter who wins the 100, 200 and 400 and maybe even a jumping event. And usually those guys are from Florida State."
Unfortunately for Covington, the Metro meet was the last event of his college career. But he was happy to go out on top, especially after being at rock bottom for so long.
Keywords:
TRACK
by CNB