Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 9, 1990 TAG: 9007090026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Or is the district being overlooked?
When the VHSCA holds its annual mid-summer games in Lynchburg, starting with girls' and boys' basketball tonight at Liberty University at 6:30, the Roanoke Valley District boys' teams will be represented by one selection.
Franklin County basketball player Mark Mitchell was selected for the West team only as an alternate, taking the place of Altavista's Vincent Myers, who opted to play football.
There will not be an RVD athlete in the baseball game, scheduled for Wednesday night at City Stadium, or the football game, set for Thursday at the same site.
Last year, the district had three football players and two boys' basketball players. There were no baseball players, but that was partly because most of the district coaches never made any nominations.
The Roanoke Valley District girls have fared better for tonight's basketball game and Wednesday afternoon's softball game at Miller Park in Lynchburg. Cave Spring will be represented by Kay Caldwell and Courtney Williams in basketball and Sara Goodman in softball. Franklin County's Lisa Bussey also was chosen in softball.
The district boys' teams were not represented for a couple of reasons.
The RVD was not particularly strong in any of the three sports.
Also, the numbers game caught up with the district. Hampton football coach Mike Smith, coordinator of the games, said each football team is allowed 16 players from Group AAA schools, eight from Group AA, six from Group A and three wild-card selections. There are similar restrictions for teams in the other sports.
Still, some good RVD athletes were overlooked. The most obvious was Pulaski County's Kirk Hendricks, who was selected All-Group AAA as a defensive back and was the leading rusher for a football team that went 10-0 during the regular season and was fourth in the Group AAA rankings.
"I'm disappointed Kirk didn't make it," said Joel Hicks, Hendricks' coach. "I didn't call anyone, but I was angry."
Pulaski County is a traditional football power. Until this year, the Cougars had been represented on the West team every year since 1983. But there is some consolation for Hendricks. He joins Gary Clark, now a standout receiver with the NFL's Washington Redskins, and two kickers - former Virginia Tech star Chris Kinzer and current Virginia Tech player Mickey Thomas - as Pulaski County players who didn't make the West squad.
"My first year, when Gary Clark was a senior, I didn't realize there was an all-star game," Hicks said. "I didn't nominate Mickey because I've been in that meeting [to choose the teams] and they won't pick a kid who is only a place-kicker."
Blacksburg's Dave Crist, head coach of the West team, led the other members of his staff in making the selections.
"When you start picking, you get into a numbers game [between the three classifications]," Crist said. "I remember his name [Hendricks] being brought up, but we took two tailbacks and one of them was a Group A back.
"We had more good defensive backs than usual. Instead of picking more tailbacks, we picked two fullbacks. I know this left some good kids out."
Hendricks was beaten out at defensive back by Jerome Trussell, who played for Crist at Blacksburg and was selected Timesland's defensive player of the year.
Lexington's Anthony Merchant was another Timesland defensive back chosen ahead of Hendricks. Merchant established his credentials when he led the Scarlet Hurricane to a Group A title as a junior.
E.C. Glass (West) and Hampton (East) each have three players on the football rosters, but that was within the rules.
"Only five schools [from each area] can have as many as two players, unless they happen to be first-team all-state performers. Then, one of them can have three," Crist said. "That's what happened in this case."
All-Group AAA offensive tackle Jackie Bruce of Pulaski County and defensive end Joe Ferrell of Patrick Henry also stood out among the district's football players.
Bruce was chosen as an alternate, Smith said, but he was dropped when he failed to return any information.
Mike Sisler, Patrick Henry's interim coach, said he nominated Ferrell.
"The VHSCA sends forms and relies on coaches to nominate areas well. I think Joe would have represented the area well," Sisler said. "I was disappointed that he and several others like Hendricks [from the RVD] didn't make the team."
Ferrell, unlike Hendricks and Bruce, didn't receive much postseason recognition. That had to hurt his chances.
Pitcher Mark Hazelwood and catcher Jason St. Clair of Cave Spring and catcher Ted Lamar of Patrick Henry very easily could have made the West baseball team.
Lamar never was nominated because Patriots coach Dave Nelson said he never received the forms.
Cave Spring coach Roger White, whose team finished second in the Group AAA tournament a year ago and advanced to a Northwestern Region semifinal this year, nominated Hazelwood and St. Clair.
"I thought maybe we'd get one of them on there," White said. "I know that Mark and Jason were good enough to play."
W.T. Woodson coach Lee Knupp, whose team played Cave Spring last year in the Group AAA championship game, was at the baseball selection meeting and remembers hearing the names of St. Clair and Hazelwood.
"Each area is supposed to have a representative there," Knupp said. "I represent Northern Virginia, and I feel I know who the good players are. But when you have 50 names on a board [as we did], there are some fabulous batting averages. I don't know how many of them didn't face good pitching or were super players."
Knupp's Woodson team from Fairfax was represented by two players, but the Cavaliers have won back-to-back Group AAA titles.
In basketball, Mitchell was the only logical representative from the Roanoke Valley District. William Fleming, which along with Franklin County dominated the district, had no outstanding senior.
by CNB