Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 9, 1990 TAG: 9007090216
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TONY STAMUS SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Although Kevin Manning defeated Simanis, a 19-year-old Lexington resident and a rising junior at Wake Forest, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the Virginia CorEast State Games men's open tennis final, it was an accomplishment for Simanis to make it that far.
Simanis came into the tournament unseeded - and uncertain. This was the right-hander's first tournament since undergoing surgery on his right elbow almost a year ago, and the field was strong.
His recuperation was long and hard, but after hitting the ball easily starting last fall, he was back on the team at Wake Forest in the spring, playing anywhere from No. 1 to No. 6.
This tournament was mostly a test for Simanis' elbow. Little did he know he would come close to winning - and defeating the No. 1 seed.
The injury has slowed his serve, but he has strengthened his groundstrokes in workouts with Wake Forest coach Ian Crookenden, a former Roanoker, and Hunting Hills pro Larry Lineberry.
"My first-serve percentage has been too low to be effective," Simanis said. "When you miss the first, you have to play too cautious. Yesterday [in Saturday's semifinal victory over Chad Ramsey of Great Falls], there was a lot more penetration, and I was pleased with that."
Simanis' biggest weapon, his forehand, makes up for that deficiency in many instances, but Manning's service returns made it difficult for Simanis to compensate.
"He returns extremely well and puts a lot of pressure on you," Simanis said.
Sunday at the River's Edge Sports Complex, Manning's experience was too much for Simanis. The Lexington player won the first set after trailing 2-0, but Manning, a national 30-and-over hardcourt doubles champion this year, played a steady game and waited for Simanis to make the mistakes.
"His experience helped him," Simanis said. "I haven't had a lot of match play and he has. When he got into trouble, his mixed up his shots more, and that's where he really won."
Manning, 32, said he was impressed by Simanis' variety of shots and had to change his game plan after Simanis won the first set.
"I was struggling, but I decided that if he was going to beat me, he'd have to work for it," Manning said.
The turning point came in the third set, with the score 2-2. Simanis hit three shots into the net to lose serve and go down 2-3. In the seventh game, Manning fell behind 15-40 on serve before blistering two serves that Simanis couldn't return and one ace to close the game. Manning hit a backhand up the line to win the match.
Michelle Monsour, 17, who played first singles for the Northside High boys' team this year as a senior, won the gold medal in an upset in the 18-and-under girls' singles and made the final in the women's open division.
Monsour defeated top-seeded Anne Coffman of Staunton 6-3, 6-4 in the 18s at Hidden Valley after upsetting second-seeded Christine O'Keefe 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a women's open semifinal.
The upset string ended in the open final, when Monsour lost 6-3, 6-1 to top-seeded Antonette Veloso.
The four-day State Games ended Sunday after more than 4,400 athletes competed in 29 sports at venues across the Roanoke Valley.
Here are some of the other highlights from the final day of competition:
Before a large crowd at North Cross' Carter Center, the West team defeated the North 15-5, 12-15, 10-15, 15-3, 15-6 in the junior girls' volleyball gold-medal match.
Radford University's Laurel Tanner had 20 kills for the West, and Tammie Ingram of Franklin County had six aces. Elizabeth Dean, from James Madison University, had 16 kills. David Turk of Hollins College coached the West team.
The East defeated the South 15-6, 15-12, 15-9 for the bronze. Tara Massie of Radford had seven kills for the East. Erinn Schleicher of Jefferson Forest High had nine kills.
The Piedmont All-Stars and Roanoke Hawks earned gold medals in boys' basketball, and the Roanoke Stars won a championship in the girls' tournament.
Piedmont pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 97-80 victory against the Augusta Heat in the boys' open division. William Fleming High's Joe Fitzgerald scored 28 points for Piedmont.
The Roanoke Hawks defeated the Patriots 88-73 in the boys' 15-and-under division, and the Roanoke Stars knocked off the Northern Virginia Vogues in the girls' 13-and-under title game.
Ed McCamish of Quantico, hitting 218 of 225 clay targets, won the international skeet shooting gold at Franklin County Gun Club. Roanoke's Bruce Michie took the silver with 216 of 225.
Tim Lisk of Roanoke defeated Ronnie Ridpath of Radford 218-191 in the men's open division bowling final at Lee-Hi Lanes. Jamie Dillon of Danville breezed by Pat Swain of Christiansburg 183-148 in the women's open final.
Tazewell's Tom Brittain, who plays for Virginia Tech, shot a second-round 69 and finished at 6-under-par 136 to win the gold in the men's open division of the golf tournament at Countryside.
Fairfax's Gil FitzHugh's shot a second-round 73 and finished six shots back, and Jason Perdue (73) of Roanoke placed third with a 144 total.
Arman Fletcher of Roanoke won the men's seniors, Chris Gilmer of Lynchburg finished four shots in front of Salem's Adam Harrell in the men's juniors and Kay Schiefelbein of Alexandria was the women's winner.
With 429 wrestlers entered Saturday in the State Games meet at the LancerLot in Vinton, event coordinator Barry Trent had twice as many participants as he does during his annual open summer tournament.
"A lot of the wrestlers I talked to said it was the toughest tournament they had ever competed in," Trent said.
Among the big winners was Greg Stiltner of Grundy. Stiltner, a three-time Group AA champion who will attend the University of Iowa on a wrestling scholarship, won gold medals in the 180-pound open division and the 171-pound senior division.
Stiltner's high school coach, Kevin Dresser, a former NCAA champion from Iowa, won the 165-pound class in the open division.
Among the local gold medalists were Jamie Soltis of Glenvar-Salem at 112, Adam Williams of Cave Spring at 125 and Noah Tompkin of Cave Spring at 140.
Kerry Ragans of Karon-Burke was awarded a 9.90 score on the uneven bars Saturday night during the team finals of the gymnastics competition at Cave Spring High.
by CNB