Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 6, 1993 TAG: 9311060020
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Ralph Berrier Jr. Staff Writer
DATELINE: RINER LENGTH: Long
Nothing thins out a bunched-up field of runners like a good climb. Hills are to a cross country race what the evolutionary process was to the dinosaurs. Only the strong survive.
With that in mind, the girls' cross country team from Christiansburg High School faced an uphill battle this fall. But the Blue Demons made the grade. A steep grade.
Christiansburg's girls entered the season with a young team that proceeded to knock off arch-rival and perennial power Blacksburg in winning the New River District and Region IV championships.
The Blue Demons hope to gain the final jewel of cross country's triple crown today, when they run in the state meet at Virginia Tech.
"The state race is the one everybody cares about," said Meredith Ritter, a senior on the team.
Even if the Christiansburg girls come up a few steps short in their bid to win the state championship, they have already earned a place alongside their male counterparts in the distinguished annals of Blue Demon cross country.
That's no small accomplishment, considering that the boys team has won three of the last four state titles and has enough championship banners to cover a 3.1-mile course. The boys also won the district and regional championships and will be favorites to capture the Group AA crown.
"That's been our goal all season," said Jeremy Cosgriff, a senior on the boys' team. "Win the state." When it comes to state races, not even the GOP can boast the achievements of Christiansburg's boys. The school has become a cross country factory in the past decade.
Part of that is due to coaching. Shelton, who also coaches the boys' team, was a successful runner at Auburn High School and later at Radford University. He took the Christiansburg job a year ago after Jeff Custer, a former Christiansburg and Radford University standout, guided the Blue Demon boys to three straight state titles and took a coaching job at Woodbridge.
Before Custer was Tom Morris, now the men's cross country coach at Radford University.
"You can have the greatest athletes in the world, but if you don't know how to teach them, they're not going to be good runners," said Bethany Eigel, a junior on the girls' team.
Eigel, who is in her first year of running cross country, has been one of the main reasons for the girls' success this year. After placing second in the mile last spring at the Group AA track and field meet, she opted to give up playing basketball to run cross country.
She won the district and region individual championships and hopes to do what her older brother, Brian, did for the boys' program. Brian Eigel, who now runs cross country and track at William and Mary, was the main man on the Blue Demons' state championship teams of 1989-91.
"It's nice to have leaders like Bethany and Jeremy," said Shelton. "They're the people you know who will always be out front for you, leading the way."
Other people count, too. In some ways, though, cross country is like an athletic version of existentialism - one person runs, no one blocks, no one sets screens, no one pinch-hits. Usually, no one watches.
"You run to try to prove something to yourself, not to any spectators, because there usually aren't any spectators," said Cosgriff.
Said Shelton: "In cross country, there are no crowds cheering for you, no bands playing. It's like life. You go to work everyday, pay your bills, and no one's there cheering for you. Cross country is a lesson in life."
Despite the individualistic characteristics of the sport, the term "cross country team" isn't an oxymoron. Team scores are based on the times of the top five runners, meaning one person can't carry a team to a state title.
Christiansburg's boys can go 10 deep and barely miss a step. Cosgriff and Kevin Nolan finished within seven seconds of each other at the region meet. Aaron Payne and Michael Lee placed in the top 10, and Cameron Pyles, who was subbing for injured Robbie Rakes, finished 13th.
"That shows the kind of depth we have," said Shelton.
The girls' team, however, had only seven members. Last year's top runners, Carrie Porterfield and Jill Johnson, had graduated, leaving Eigel, Ritter, Beverly Stepp, Leslie Cosgriff, Sharon Huppert, Sarah Slikker and Amy Powell.
The success of the girls "has been a surprise," said Shelton. "On paper, this should have been a rough year. We were just hoping to stay close to Blacksburg this year."
The Demons stayed close, then passed the defending state champion Indians. Beset by injuries, Blacksburg couldn't quite stay with Christiansburg in district and regional meets this year. However, the Indians still feature Sarah Hendricks, who finished second among individual runners in the Group AA meet last year, and they could make a push for their ninth state championship.
Christiansburg made it through the season injury-free. For a team that had only seven members - the top five of whom count in team-scoring totals - staying healthy was a must.
Call them the Lucky Seven.
"We've been blessed," said Shelton. "If we win the state, great," said Shelton, "but we won't be disappointed if we don't. We're just happy to be here."
by CNB