Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 1, 1990 TAG: 9006010185
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
James River's Jack Baker (boys) and Floyd County's Pam Lemons (girls) came up with those performances to become Timesland's 1990 track athletes of the year.
Baker had to overcome Group AA championships by Blacksburg's Lee Cross in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races. Lemons' task was to top the 32 points George Wythe's Anne Fontaine scored in leading the Maroons to a second-place finish in the Group AA meet.
Baker won both Group A hurdles events, taking the 110-meter race in 14.7 seconds and the 300 in 39.2. He finished with the best time in Timesland for the 110 hurdles and was a tenth of a second off the season's best time in the 300.
Lemons' performance was amazing. She scored 36 points by winning the 100, 200 and 400 meters and finishing fourth in the triple jump. Her efforts helped Floyd County finish third as a team.
The Timesland track coaches of the year are Blacksburg's Susan Earles-Price, whose girls' team won the Group AA championship, and Christiansburg's Randy Bailey, whose Blue Demons were third in the Group AA boys' meet.
Baker is a versatile athlete who played slot back in football and started on the basketball team that finished second in the Group A tournament.
"I started running track in eighth grade," he said. "I always wanted to give track a try. I liked it. Now it's close between football and track as to my favorite sport."
A few weeks ago, Baker wasn't thinking about winning two state championships. "It was my goal to win the [110] high hurdles. I hadn't done that well in the [300] intermediate hurdles until last month. It kind of clicked a month ago and I've done well ever since."
It almost didn't work out for the senior. Baker fell at the start of the 300 hurdles at the Region C meet. He struggled to his feet and finished second to qualify for the state championships.
Lemons, headed to the University of Virginia on a track scholarship, was a huge favorite to win the Group A title in the 100 and 200. She entered the 400 and triple jump because her team needed the points.
"That 400-meter race came from my heart," said Lemons, who confesses she hates the event. "I didn't think I could [beat Evangela Booker of Amelia County] when I saw her times."
Lemons caught Booker in the stretch. The only question was: Did it take too much out of her for the 200.
Lemons didn't buckle and won the event just as she did in 1989, when she also took the Group A title in the 100.
Earles-Price was in her first season as Blacksburg's girls' track coach.
"I felt no pressure," she said. "The outlook we took for the season is that we knew a little bit about the other teams, but you never know enough. So we prepared ourselves the best we could."
The Indians went unbeaten, winning titles at the Wythe and All-American relays before adding the district, region and state titles. In every major meet, Blacksburg came back to win on the final event - the 1,600-meter relay - and overcome a Wythe team that was led by Fontaine.
Bailey, in his sixth year as head coach at Christiansburg, sees an even brighter future for his Blue Demons.
"This team exceeded my expectations," he said. "We thought we had a chance to win the district and region, but I'm surprised we won by the margin that we did.
"We've had one of the best teams in the state the last three or four years, but that doesn't mean you'll win the state. You win that by having big meet points, and next year we'll have more big meet points than we've ever had before."
Earles-Price beat out Cave Spring's Joe Hafey, whose team finished fifth in the Group AAA girls' meet. Bailey topped William Fleming's Rudy Dillard, whose team tied for second in the Group AAA indoor meet.
by CNB