Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 29, 1993 TAG: 9309290140
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
The Radford school board, in the same motion, also said the Bobcats will schedule only Group A schools in football. Thus, two of Timesland's oldest rivalries - Radford vs. Blacksburg and Radford vs. Christiansburg will come to an end.
The decisions came just hours after Region C denied a request by the Mountain Empire District to divide into two leagues starting in 1994-95. Radford will become the 11th member of the Mountain Empire.
Because of the Mountain Empire ruling, the Bobcats also will be unable to continue playing against their two archrivals in boys' and girls' basketball because of the 10-team round-robin home-and-home schedule in the district. Because Bland and Rocky Gap combine in football, Radford will be able to play one non-district contest in that sport.
Radford's decision leaves the New River District with only three schools. Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Carroll County have two days under Virginia High School League guidelines to decide whether to continue as a three-team district for the next two years or call a meeting of Region IV schools seeking a re-division of the member schools before Friday.
After the Region C decision, Radford's move was a surprise. Many Radford supporters and some school board members objected to dropping to a league as big as the Mountain Empire, where the Bobcats might not be able to continue playing traditional rivals.
Lineburg just two years ago encouraged Radford not to make a similar move. He was asked why he changed his mind.
The long-time Bobcat football coach and athletic director said that in June 1991 he did send a letter recommending a drop to Group A. "Then they waited until September," he said of the school board. "At that time, the football was doing well, as was the girls' basketball team.
"I felt it would upset the situation in the school system, so I wrote another letter saying that [staying in Group AA] was the only direction we could go at that time."
Three members of the current school board - John "Chip" Craig, George Ducker and Carter Eppler - as well as chairman Guy Gentry were on the school board in 1991 when it voted to remain in the New River District.
Craig and Eppler voted for the motion that was introduced by Craig, though they said they were doing it with reservations and because community sentiment seemed to favor such a move.
In the Region C decision, 12 schools voted for the Mountain Empire split, 11 against and two schools were not at the meeting. As it took a two-thirds majority - 17 votes - to split the district, the motion was denied.
The Hogoheegee District (seven of eight schools present) voted as block against the motion. The Mountain Empire was in favor 6-4 and the Pioneer had five votes for with Highland not present.
George Wythe principal Dan McDaniel said the Hogoheegee took a vote in caucus and decided to go as a unit for the sake of uniformity. "I really believe if everyone in the Mountain Empire District had said they wanted to split, the Hogoheegee District wouldn't have cared. But we heard 45 minutes of Mountain Empire schools saying they did or didn't want to split."
Grayson County, Narrows, Giles and Galax voted against the split. The other Mountain Empire schools favored the move.
Memo: longer version ran in the New River Valley edition.