Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 17, 1993 TAG: 9307170080
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Competition was held in just four of eight scheduled sports, and the only medals awarded came in the archery competition.
Archery, handball, shooting and tennis began Friday and continue today. Twenty-one more sports will feature competitors from around the state at venues mostly in the Roanoke Valley.
One bonus Friday was the weather. As of late afternoon, the Commonwealth Games' medical team reported no calls for injuries or heat-related maladies.
The high Friday was 89, about six degrees cooler than the highs of the past couple of weeks, and the humidity was close to 50 percent.
"We were actually bracing for it to be in the high 90s," said Steve Hickey, an emergency medical technician with Salem Rescue Squad. "We've been blessed with some cooler temperatures."
Not everyone got off so lucky. At the handball competition at the Roanoke YMCA Central, coordinator Andy Hudick said the temperatures on a couple of non-air conditioned courts topped the outside mercury by 10 degrees and "players were losing five or six pounds per match."
In other Commonwealth Games happenings Friday:
Archery gold-medal winners included Roanoke's Giles Gilley (freestyle limited), Christiansburg's Randy Flinchum (men's freestyle unlimited), Salem's Marie Bell (women's freestyle unlimited), Roanoke's Chad Waybright (intermediate male unlimited), Wirtz's Andy Sels (intermediate male limited), Lynch Station's Cay McManus (female freestyle limited), Salem's Phillip Boyd (male junior), Christiansburg's Suzanne Lowe (female junior) and Christiansburg's Steve Lowe (cadet male).
The top two seeds in the boys' 16-under bracket were ousted in the first hours of tennis competition.
No. 1-seeded Andrew Thomas of Roanoke lost to Bill Rawlings of Roanoke 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. The seedings are determined by current Mid-Atlantic Tennis Association rankings.
No. 2 seed Greg McCray of Roanoke lost to Christian Brower of Fairfax 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Brower has more of a connection to Roanoke than might be apparent. His mother, whose maiden name was Barbara Yost, is a Patrick Henry High School graduate who was Miss Virginia in 1967.
The girls' 18-under doubles title will be decided at 12:30 p.m. today at Crystal Spring Park.
One man with a rifle showed up at Roanoke Rifle & Revolver Club on Friday morning to inaugurate the Men's Free Rifle Prone competition, coordinator Jim Hallis said. One more shooter this morning should complete that competition.
The Police Practical Combat competition was to begin Friday night at On Target in Roanoke. Hallis expects close to 55 shooters to arrive today at Roanoke Rifle, where they will compete in black-powder silhouette and shotgun sporting clays - the first time the latter has been held at Roanoke Rifle during the Games.
Roller skating took signups at Skateland in Lynchburg, where coordinator Cindy Anderson said registration may reach 150. There will be indoor speed skating today; on Sunday, there will be artistic competition at Skateland - beginning at 6:30 a.m. - and outdoor speed skating at Sandusky Middle School.
Although there is no admission charge to almost all Commonwealth Games events, Anderson said there is a $2 fee for the indoor skating competition.
Thirty-nine professional and college baseball scouts showed up to watch the four regional all-star teams work out at Cave Spring High School. Play begins at 8 a.m. today.
Girls' volleyball team competition at Jefferson Forest High School, originally scheduled to start Friday, will begin today.
by CNB