Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 28, 1993 TAG: 9304280059
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-12 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I was trying to make an impression more on defense and hustle, because all the players there were offensively oriented and offensively talented," Root said.
It worked. Root, a 6-foot-3 center who just finished her sophomore year at Tech, made the 12-member team and will play in the U.S. Olympic Sports Festival July 24-28 in San Antonio, Texas. Five other Hokies - Terri Garland, Christi Osborne, Kelley Burrier, Lisa Leftwich and Angie Gray - also participated in the open tryouts.
Also on the team: Virginia's Jenny Boucek and Amy Lofstedt.
"They're actually kind of nice," said Root, who discovered stereotypes don't always fit. "Everyone's got this little image of what people from UVa are going to be like, and they're the same way about Tech."
Root averaged 14.9 points and eight rebounds per game for Tech, the latter figure the eighth-best single-season effort by a Hokie. She shot a school-record 58 percent from the field and blocked 39 shots, raising her two-year total to 66 - already sixth best on Tech's career list.
Tech's coaches, she said, urged the Hokies' players under 21 (the age limit) to try out. Root now has a chance to make herself familiar to the USA Basketball hierarchy that oversees the U.S. national teams. Tech assistant coach Bonnie Henrickson said making an Olympic Festival team normally earns the participant an invitation to the national team trials the following year.
"I think it opens the door. It all depends on how I represent myself," said Root, from Pensacola, Fla. "If I do well and make a positive contribution, I think it opens doors for national or junior national teams."
Root sees another benefit, if any kids notice the "Virginia Tech" next to her name on the roster: "Maybe it'll help our recruiting, having me on this team," she said.
\ PASSING SHOTS: Participants in the NCAA tennis championships will be selected May 6. Virginia Tech's Marcus Kramer, who has been nationally ranked all year, is expected to be invited to the singles tournament at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga.
Kramer is one of four top singles players Tech's men's team will lose. He, Ognjen Pavlovic and Dinko Gudelj have used up their eligibility, and junior Niels Nielsen, the Hokies' No. 4 singles player, decided to return to his native Denmark. The men's team finished 15-5 and placed second in the Metro Conference Tournament.
The women's team, on the other hand, finished 13-9 and returns all but one of its top singles players, although that player is No. 1 Shannon Cubitt.
\ PENN RELAYS: Virginia Tech's men's 4x400 relay team finished third in one section of the Penn Relays last weekend in Philadelphia. Jay Gallant, Brett Mathews, Dave Hannett and Geof Tonini ran a mile in three minutes, 16 seconds. No other Tech athletes placed, although some set personal records. The women's 4x800 relay team finished in 7:36; women's hammer thrower Nancy Gilmore had a throw of 124 feet, nine inches.
Selected members of Virginia Tech's track team traveled to Philadelphia. Tech's next full team meet is the Metro Conference championships at South Florida May 14-16.
\ HOME STRETCH: Virginia Tech's baseball team entered the week 7-4 in the Metro Conference, in third place, one-half game behind Southern Mississippi and 3 1/2 behind South Florida. However, the Hokies' last six Metro games are at home - three against South Florida May 7-9 and three against Southern Mississippi May 14-16.
The Hokies' Bo Durkac leads all Metro hitters with a .417 average through April 25 . . . Tech shortstop Dee Dalton is tied for the third-highest home run total in the Metro with 10 . . . Outfielder J.R. Hawkins is eight in the batting race (.365), sixth in RBI (37, averaging one per game) and has nine home runs.
\ UPCOMING IN BLACKSBURG: Baseball - Richmond, 3 p.m. May 5; South Florida, 3 p.m. May 7, 2 p.m. May 8, noon May 9; James Madison, 3 p.m. May 11.
Scott Blanchard is a Roanoke Times & World-News sportswriter.
by CNB