Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 3, 1994 TAG: 9403030143
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The Blue Demons have scorched tracks from Harrisonburg to Jonesville in running away with every NRD outdoor championship since 1986, save the spring of '87, and every Region IV crown since '89. Those titles usually paved the way to high finishes in the Group AA state meet, where the Blue Demons were among the top three teams three years running.
Last year was more of the same for the Blue Demons. They cruised through the NRD and outdistanced the region.
They stumbled down the homestretch, however. Tripped over that final championship hurdle. Scratched. False started. In the state meet, Christiansburg posted all of eight points.
"I think we took a dip [last year]," said Randy Bailey, Christiansburg's coach. "We won the district and regional, but we didn't achieve the state points [from years past]."
Look for the Blue Demons to return to the high-rent district come state meet time. Christiansburg has already laid claim to the Group AA State Indoor Invitational title, and many of the guys who made that championship possible will be wearing precious medals in the great outdoors.
The most-decorated Blue Demon will probably be Andra Beasley, Is Andra correct?the latest in a long line of all-everything performers like Tyrone Johnson and Demond Wesley who have donned blue and gold spandex. Beasley scored in five indoor events during last Saturday's state meet in Lexington, and he will compete in as many as eight different events this spring: long jump, triple jump, high jump, shot put, discus, 100 meters, 200 and the 400 relay.
He is his team's Jim Thorpe and Jesse Owens.
"We call him Jesse Thorpe," said Bailey.
Thorpe's, uh, Beasley's signature event is the long jump. He has traveled as far as 22 feet through the air, and he holds the school triple jump record both outdoors (45 feet) and in (43-11/2).
Beasley is an outstanding talent, but "don't get the impression that we're a one-man team," said Bailey.
Even if they were, the Blue Demons could possibly win the NRD with Beasley alone. However, the return of fellows like defending 100 champ Steve Surratt; shot putter Jack Moore; hurdler Eric Childress; solid distance runners Jeremy Cosgriff, Kevin Nowlin, Robbie Rakes and Aaron Payne; and a 400 relay team of Beasley, Surratt, Daniel Fisher and Stephen Trail will make Christiansburg hard to catch.
BLACKSBURG lost some top performers from last year but will remain competitive in the NRD. Scott Shepherd is coming off a state indoor second-place finish in the 2-mile and David Brown was seventh in the indoor mile. Jeff Hendricks also is a quality distance runner and Josh Reed will be one of the Indians' best sprinters.
RADFORD has a ton of talent. Trouble is, much of it comes from the freshman and sophomore classes. Eddie Waldron and Marlon Wesley are a couple of young kids who will score a lot of points for the Bobcats. Waldron will sprint, hurdle and jump, while Wesley - whose older brother, Demond, was a star at Christiansburg - will be in the sprinting and jumping events. Another Wesley, Cornell, would be a force if he decides to run track and/or play soccer. Of the older guys, Cameron Mitchell went to the Group AA meet last year as a hurdler and shot put/discus dude Dion Powell has state experience under his belt.
FLOYD COUNTY won the Mountain Empire District last year and the Buffaloes will be in another close race with Giles, Galax and possibly Auburn. Floyd County could be leaps and bounds ahead of most schools in the leaping and bounding department. Jamie Warren, Craig Reed, Darrell Quesenberry and Benjie Is this correct with "e"?Osborne all placed high in either the high, long or triple jumps during last year's MED meet. Quesenberry went to the Group A state meet a year ago in the 110 hurdles and James Gay competed at state as part of a 1600-relay team that saw three members graduate. Jason Morisco and Ben Cook should parlay last fall's fine cross country showings into good springs in the distance events.
GILES is without seven fellows went to the Group A meet last year, but the Spartans will still do well in the MED. Perry Martin (100, 200, 400 relay), Michael Smith (discus) and Rickie Jennings (mile, 2-mile) all have state experience. Martin and sophomore Scott Sparks, who was a state alternate last year, will do well in the sprint events, Jennings is a two-time runner-up in Group A cross country, and the 1600 relay team of Martin, Michael Clark, Clarence Toney and Jerry Saunders went to regionals last year. Maurice Milton (110 and 300 hurdles, long jump, 400 relay) should also be a consistent scorer.
AUBURN boasts one of the MED's best athletes in V.J. Lumia, who holds the school record in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 4 inches. Lumia went to the Group A meet in the high jump, 200 and 400 last year, and will probably be the Eagles' most consistent high scorer. Auburn, which hopes to creep into the upper echelon of the MED, will also get points from distance runner Justin Mosby, who finished in the top 10 of the Group A cross country meet last fall.
SHAWSVILLE should be much improved this season. High jumper Doug Ashworth made the regionals last year, Chris Briggs and Tony Graham will do well in the 100 and 200, respectively, and the 400 relay team of Briggs, Conrad Hughes, Larry Smith and Dale Fitzgerald will be highly competitive.
NARROWS would love to put the powerful legs of Whitey Blankenship on the track, but alas, the exquisitely talented Whitey will be occupied with tanning baseballs. Still, Narrows has some good multi-event athletes like Scott Stafford and Gary Lowery, who both can run and jump. Both will long and triple jump, Stafford will run the 400, Lowery the 100. Junior Brian Ballard could emerge as one of the MED's best at tossing the shot and discus.
PULASKI COUNTY, which will probably fight for the second-place spot in the Roanoke Valley District behind Patrick Henry, will be led by Carl Lewis and Carson Graham, two multi-event stars who competed in the Group AAA meet last year. Graham went to state in the 300 hurdles, and he also competes in the 110 hurdles, the high, long and triple jumps. Lewis is a great jumper and he'll be a member of the 400 relay team. The Cougars could also get help from basketball standout Tyrone Hash, who should be a fine sprinter.
by CNB