Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 13, 1993 TAG: 9305120228
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That's not as suicidal as it might seem.
Walter has posted the fastest time of any Metro runner in the 10,000 meters. But the four runners Tech will enter in the 10,000 - Ben Hester, Tom Lankowicz, Adam Small and Roanoke native John Hawthorne - have the second- through sixth-fastest times in the conferences.
Tech hopes that depth will have it in contention for the Metro title.
Tech coach Steve Taylor said Walter is being held out of the Metro 10,000 so that the following week he can try to qualify for the 10,000 at the NCAA National Championship meet. He needs to cut 3 seconds off his time. At the Metro meet, Walter will run the 1,500 and 5,000 meters.
"We're well-covered," Taylor said of the 10,000.
Taylor and head coach Russ Whitenack will try to better last year's second-place finish at the outdoor meet, hosted this year by South Florida.
The Hokies have been training at the University of Florida's track in Gainesville this week to get used to the weather and because Tech doesn't yet have an outdoor track.
Tech's women aren't hurting in distance races, either. Senior Heidi Allen has the Metro's best 10,000-meter time, and will also run the 5,000.
"She's in real good shape," women's coach Lori Taylor said. "This is it for her."
Versatile senior Dorothea Ku has won the Metro's heptathlon the past two years, will compete in that again as well as the high jump, 100-meter hurdles, long jump, shot put and javelin.
Freshman Erin Graham, who set the Tech record in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, will run that event as well as the 100-meter hurdles and a leg on the mile relay team.
Nancy Gilmore enters the meet with the best discus mark in the league, and Taylor said freshmen Michelle Barrett and Kara Kaufman - who have the fourth- and fifth-best times in the 5,000 this year - could join Allen among the top five finishers.
"We can do real well," said Taylor, whose team finished second at last year's outdoor meet. "In the indoor, we were just out of second place and really didn't have a good day."
Other men to watch include:
Dave Hannett in the decathlon. "He'll win unless some stranger shows up that we don't know about," Whitenack said.
Brett Mathews, who was second in the 800 meters at the Metro indoor meet and has the No. 2 time in the league this spring. "He's been putting his sights on trying to win the 800 all spring," Steve Taylor said.
Marshall Ferguson and Matt Zacharias, freshmen who will run the 5,000. Both were all-Metro indoor performers, Zacharias in the 3,000 meters and Ferguson in the 1,500.
"That's where their strength is," Steve Taylor said of the 5,000.
Mathews, Jay Gallant, Dave Hannett and Geof Tonini in the mile relay. At the recent Penn Relays, they beat their personal record by 2.9 seconds.
Gallant, Whitenack said, is the Metro's best in the 400 meters and should win.
Chris Williams, who was the Metro's top pole vaulter during the season (16 feet, seven inches).
He may attempt to break the school record of 17 1/2.
\ SIGNEE: Tech coach Steve Taylor said he has signed Mike Cox of Athens (W.Va.) High School to a letter of intent.
Cox won the Blue Ridge Invitational cross-country meet hosted by William Byrd High School in Roanoke County last fall, and was 12th at the Kinney National Cross Country Championships in San Diego last fall.
"He's the best distance runner we've signed since I can remember," Taylor said.
\ UPCOMING IN BLACKSBURG: Baseball - vs. Southern Mississippi, 3 p.m. May 14, 2 p.m. May 15 and 2 p.m. May 16.
by CNB