Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 19, 1994 TAG: 9403180099
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Doug Doughty
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Summerlin, an 11-time ACC champion at North Carolina, goes to the NCAA Championships next week in Minneapolis in hopes of becoming an All-American in one of his individual events.
Summerlin, a senior from Roanoke, became an All-American for the first time last year when the Tar Heels finished fourth in the 800-meter relay. The top eight finishers in each event are recognized as All-Americans.
"Undoubtedly, this has been the highlight of my career," Summerlin said of the ACC meet, where he took home seven plaques as the Tar Heels won the title. "Coming into the year our team was a big question mark."
Summerlin finished first in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 freestyle and took third in the 400 individual medley while cutting three seconds off the North Carolina record.
"It's kind of weird, but my best shot at placing in nationals might be the 400 IM," said Summerlin, who nearly broke the ACC record but finished behind Virginia's Bill Smyth and Florida State's Chip Habrerstroh.
Summerlin's finest performance may have come in the 800 freestyle relay, in which he lifted the Tar Heels from third to first with an anchor leg of 43.71 seconds.
"Unless I make one of the national teams, this is pretty much it for me," said Summerlin, 21, who has been accepted to law school at William and Mary and is waiting to hear from North Carolina and Virginia. "If I had a great shot at '96 [the Summer Olympics in Atlanta], that would be one thing, but it would be tough to stick it out otherwise."
It hasn't been easy to withstand the grind in college, particularly in a sport that requires numerous hours of practice but brings little in the way of recognition.
"At North Carolina, we have great facilities next to the [Dean Smith Center], and that kind of says it all," said Summerlin, a North Cross graduate. "If there was a basketball game getting out when we had a meet, we might have a good crowd, but at times it could be a little frustrating."
\ TOUGH TO EXPLAIN: Since 1987, Cliff Ellis of Clemson and Dave Odom of Wake Forest have been selected ACC coach of the year twice each. In the same period, Mike Krzyzewski has taken Duke to two ACC championships and not been voted ACC coach of the year once.
Voters are allowed to wait until after the ACC tournament, but most submit their ballots when the all-conference selections are due before the tournaments. The last coach of the year to come from the ACC champion was Krzyzewski in 1986, when Duke won the regular-season and tournament titles.
Odom, who has directed Wake Forest to consecutive 20-victory seasons for the first time since 1983-84, has been quick to praise his staff, including Ernie Nestor, who took the restricted-earnings post with the Demon Deacons after parting company with George Mason.
\ MORE ACC: Odom, whose last-minute decision to foul North Carolina backfired in an 86-84 overtime loss at the ACC tournament, said the strategy stemmed from his days as a Virginia assistant.
In 1987, UVa lost to Clemson 94-90 in overtime after the Tigers' Horace Grant hit a desperation 3-pointer at the end of regulation. Odom said he decided then, if placed in the same position, that he would foul before the shot.
Florida State football and basketball player Charlie Ward apparently has decided against joining the Seminoles' baseball team for a proposed appearance against North Carolina-Asheville. . . . Ward's girlfriend, a University of Miami law student, is named Tonja Harding.
\ OFFICIATING: Fred Barakat, supervisor of officials for the ACC and several other leagues, said Owen Grogan of Roanoke is getting his best assignments since joining the ACC roster.
Barakat said Grogan is one of the top four officials in the Big South Conference, which is why he was the first choice for the Big South title game when Karl Hess couldn't work the matchup between Campbell and Hess' alma mater, Liberty.
One surprise in the ACC championship game was the absence of Dick Paparo, an officiating fixture in the final since the mid-1980s. Barakat said he "moved" the entire crew from the Duke-Virginia semifinal, giving Larry Rose his first ACC title game.
\ EX-MAROON DIES YOUNG: Phil Yeich, a 1986 Roanoke College graduate and former cross-country runner for the Maroons, died Sunday from a blood clot. Yeich, 29, most recently had served as a crew coach at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria. He had been hospitalized since Feb. 12, when the toboggan in which he was riding hit a tree and left him with a fractured spine.
\ MAKING THEMSELVES AT HOME: Division III men's lacrosse power Nazareth will have been in Salem for a week by the time it plays Roanoke College at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Nazareth has been able to get more outdoor practice time in Salem than it would have in Rochester, N.Y., which was hit with snow Thursday, and the Golden Flyers have had the bonus of watching Roanoke play two games this week.
by CNB