Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 11, 1993 TAG: 9306110023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
With pressure from challengers throughout Timesland, these two seniors are the track and field athletes of the year again.
The awards are presented by the sports department of the Roanoke Times & World-News.
Ollendick and Barber retained their titles with outstanding performances in the state meets. Tiki Barber, who last year shared the Timesland honor with his twin brother, Ronde, won the Group AAA long and triple jumps to close his track career at Cave Spring.
Ollendick, pushed by George Wythe's Eve Kendall, proved to be the most versatile athlete in the state meet. She won the high jump and scored 24 points to lead Blacksburg to the Group AA title. Kendall failed to win an event, but scored 18 points and paced Wythe to a share of the Group A championship.
The coaches of the year are Christiansburg's Randy Bailey for the boys and Blacksburg's Cecile Newcombe for the girls.
It was vintage Tiki Barber in the state meet. He scratched on his first two attempts in the long jump, forcing him not only to get off a clean jump on his final effort but to make the top eight to advance to the final.
Cave Spring coach Jim Huffman suggested Barber try jumping from the edge of the board instead of the middle, which was chewed up. Barber took Huffman's advice and qualified. Then, he won the event.
The next day, Barber nailed a triple jump of 49 feet, 3 inches in the preliminaries. It was easy to tell by the looks on the faces of Barber's rivals - none of whom had jumped that far this year - that he was in control.
"I woke up this morning and figured I'd have to go out and do something. It was the last time I'd have a chance to show anybody I can do something in high school," Barber said of his final day as a Timesland competitor.
Barber battled a hamstring injury throughout his senior season. It was a bigger problem in the winter indoor season, when he pulled it in the Northwestern Region meet. During that meet, he still managed to set a long-jump record with a 24-6 performance that ranked second among the nation's high school competitors at the time.
The state meet was next, but Barber didn't run. "The doctor said I could probably compete, but if not absolutely necessary not to try it," he said.
Barber finished second in the long jump at the nationals in Syracuse, N.Y., competing against some of the country's top high school performers.
"Because of the hamstring, I couldn't get in [running] shape," said Barber, who didn't make the Group AAA dash finals after qualifying for the semifinals last weekend. "I still tried to do as much as I could, especially in dual meets, get as many points as possible so the team record would be good."
Ollendick would be the first to say her state performance wasn't what she wanted.
"I did what I needed to do for the team and we came away with the state title, so I wasn't disappointed," she said.
Ollendick led on the final lap in the 400- and 800-meter runs, but didn't have enough kick left to hold on.
"I ran well, but I didn't quite have enough to finish it off the way I would have liked," she said. "It might have been easier not competing [in as many events], but I wouldn't have known what to do with the extra time."
In indoor track, Ollendick won the Group AA state invitational high jump, 500 and 1,000, and led the 1,600-meter relay team to victory. The meet is not sanctioned by the Virginia High School League, so it's not an official state championship.
Ollendick and Barber are headed to the University of Virginia. Barber's primary interest will be football. Ollendick has been recruited for the heptathlon, a competition that includes seven events spread over two days.
Newcombe, a part-time coach who is not on the Blacksburg High School faculty, has the distinction of being a Timesland coach of the year twice during the same school year. She won the same honor after guiding the Indians to a state title in cross country, but she won't be back in the fall to seek another title. She is retiring.
Bailey is one of the most knowledgeable boys' track coaches in the area. His Blue Demons beat Group AAA William Fleming in a dual meet and then had little trouble winning the Region IV crown.
Bailey's team did it without a premier performer. Christiansburg scored in every event except the 400.
by CNB