Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 11, 1993 TAG: 9305110164
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN DeVIDO SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
She'll run any distance to help the team, even if it means running a race she's unfamiliar with.
She'll win most of the time, too.
She placed second in Region IV last year in the 800- and 1,600-meter events, and just missed placing at states in the 1,600.
She's had to deal with going into a new school that had high expectations for her. Her brother was a two-time state middle-distance champ.
She's talented enough to have played varsity basketball last fall, but the cross-country coach would love nothing more than to have her on that squad, instead.
And she's low-key about it all.
Meet Bethany Eigel, the sophomore middle-distance sensation for the Christiansburg High School track team.
Eigel has the best times in the region this year for the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races. She ran her first 3,200-meter race last Wednesday in a quad meet against Marion, Radford and Giles.
"She'd had a tough day at school," Christiansburg coach Norma Cox said. "She came up to me before the meet and said `I'll run anything you want me to run. I'm so mad right now I could run anything.' Bethany is just an untapped resource of energy."
Eigel responded with a time of 11 minutes and 57 seconds, two seconds better than the previous top time in the region.
She automatically qualified for the Region 4 meet, so she doesn't have to run that distance at the district meet today.
Somebody close to Eigel also was pretty good in the distance runs - her brother, Brian. He won the AA state title in the 1,600 last year. He now runs for William and Mary.
"Since he was a runner, it was expected I'd be a runner," she said.
"There definitely was a period in which she did the `following in the footsteps' of her brother, but she's found her own niche here now," Cox said.
And while Eigel has made a name for herself on the Christiansburg squad, there still are minor problems.
One problem in particular is the decision of which events to run in the regional and state meets. She runs the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters, but she'll be able to run only two of them once she gets past the district meets.
Any high school runner who runs an event a mile or longer can run only one additional event. The national rule is to prevent high school runners from doing too many distance events.
Eigel said she definitely will run the 1,600, but hasn't yet decided if she'll run the 800 or 3,200. If she does run the 800, she'll run into a familiar rival: Blacksburg's Katie Ollendick.
Ollendick is the defending state high jump and 400 meters champion. She also has the top time this year in the 800. Eigel and Ollendick have clashed twice this season in the 800, and each has won once.
"I would call her my idol," Eigel said of Ollendick. "She's a wonderful student, a wonderful competitor who'll shake your hand after a race and the nicest person in the world. I think it's great that we race each other, because we really push each other."
Does that mean she'll opt to compete against Ollendick and run the 800 in regionals and states,?
"I just want to do whatever helps my team get points," she said. "We'll just have to decide between the 800 and 3,200."
She won the 800 and 1,600 in the All-American relays at Radford April 24. But Eigel said bringing her time down has been more rewarding than winning.
"Norma [her coach] just started a goal-setting chart," she said. "If you bring your time down 1 percent, you get a candy bar. If you bring it down another 1 percent, you get a candy bar and a drink."
And the system goes on until the athletes qualify for more valuable prizes - like pizza or a T-shirt.
"You'd be surprised at how much it helps," she said. "It's an incentive to do better. Norma even pays for it herself."
And if Eigel keeps on improving, she'll have more than just track medals to show for her success. She'll also have a new wardrobe and plenty of pizza.
by CNB