ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 23, 1994                   TAG: 9403230126
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-14   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: M.J. Dougherty
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long


TOP GUN TAKES 3RD IN TOURNEY

Top Gun was the top gun in the New River Valley's Slimfast Team Tennis league last fall.

The squad also showed it was one of the top guns in the South Atlantic by finishing third in the World Team Tennis Winter Regional Championships in Tampa, Fla.

``We had a great time; it was beautiful weather,'' said team captain GENE HURST. ``I thought we played well the first two days but on the third day, our lack of sleep caught up with us. Also, there was a clinic the first day and we tried some new strokes in the matches.

``I'd say we finished about where we expected to. Maybe next year we'll win the thing.''

About 20 teams participated in the tournament. There were five squads in the 4-5 Division, for the most skilled players, in which Top Gun competed.

Top Gun opened with a 30-14 win over the Racqueteers of Florida. It then lost to Briarwood of Club Richmond 27-13 and Team Aces of South Carolina 26-17.

The Aces won the tournament and Briarwood finished second.

Each match consists of a set of men's singles, men's doubles, women's singles, women's doubles and one or two sets of mixed doubles.

Top Gun team members included SUSAN COX, LAURA KIMINISKI, LISA WARD, SUE TEEL, BRIAN HILL, JERRY DANNER, ROBBIE WILLIAMSON and Hurst. All but Teel and Williamson made the trip to Florida.

Anyone interested in participating in Team Tennis leagues this spring can contact Hurst at 980-0855.

ROUNDBALL ROUNDUP: Corning demonstrated the value of free throws in the finals of the Montgomery County Men's Basketball League tournament.

The second-place finisher during the regular season, Corning made its foul shots down the stretch and held off regular-season champ Above the Rim - a team that defeated it twice previously - 77-74 in the tournament finals.

DAVE HERBSTER paced Corning with a game-high 22 points while TIM PENN added 18. ROBBIE DALTON (20) and CHUCK COURTS (19) combined for more than half of Above the Rim's points.

DELRAY `DOC' JONES of Above the Rim had a tournament-high 40 points as Above the Rim topped The Doors 124-96 in the semifinals. JIM COMPARIN of The Doors had 73 points in two tournament games.

The second-seeded Wolverines (13-2) were the surprise winners in the Pulaski Boys' 12-and-under tournament.

JASON DEAN scored eight of his game-high 11 points in the second half as the Wolverines pulled away to down the Bulls 30-21 in the tournament finals.

RAYMOND OLIVER (six points) and HENRY REYNOLDS (five) each added two baskets in the second half for the Wolverines.

DAVID TILLER led the Bulls with a game-high 12 points.

Tiller and JOSIAH CLARK each scored 18 in the semifinals as the Bulls knocked off the regular-season champions and previously unbeaten Sonics (14-l) 45-43.

Dean and ROGER ADAMS of the Sonics were the co-MVPs of the league.

The Raiders (12-0) completed an unbeaten season with a 17-8 triumph over Big Blue in the finals of the Pulaski Girls 11-and-under League tournament.

RASHEEDA POINDEXTER led the raiders with eight points while BETH SYPNIEWSKI and STEPHANIE MARCHESE each added four in the defensive struggle.

TERRI UNDERWOOD and TIFFANY HOLCOMB had four points apiece for Big Blue.

Sypniewski and Underwood were named the league co-MVPs.

Woodmen of the World (6-2) won twice, including a 38-37 win over former co-leader Presbyterian, to take over sole possession of the top spot in the Christiansburg Women's Slowbreak League.

Presbyterian I (8-1) recorded three victories to stay atop the Christiansburg Men's Church Slowbreak League. One of those was a 65-58 triumph over second place Presbyterian II.

The Rebels (9-0) remained the only perfect team in the Christiansburg Men's Open Slowbreak League with three triumphs.

SPRING INTO SIGN-UPS: The registration season for the next season of sports continues with even more opportunities to get involved.

The Town of Pulaski is taking sign-ups for Dixie Youth baseball, girls softball and Coed Tee-Ball.

The age divisions (as of July 31 unless noted) are as follows: ages 5-8 for Coed Tee-Ball (as of July 1); ages 8-10 for Dixie Minors; ages 11-12 for Dixie Majors; ages 13-14 for Dixie Boys; ages 15-16 for Dixie Pre-Majors; ages 15-18 for Dixie Majors; ages 9-11 for Girls Minors softball; and ages 12-15 for Girls Majors softball.

The fee is $10 and all participants must either live in Pulaski County or attend a county school.

Signups can be made by calling the town's new 24-hour sports information line at 980-8343 and leaving the youth's full name, age and telephone number.

The Department of Recreation Sports at Virginia Tech is offering swim lessons for children ages 3-12.

The 45-minute classes will be held Mondays and Wednesdays from April 4 to May 2 at 6:10 p.m. at the War Memorial Gym on the Tech campus in Blacksburg.

The April 4 class will be an orientation for parents and children.

Registration begins Monday at 9 a.m. in Room 125-E of War Memorial Hall on the Tech campus.

For more information, call the department at 231-6856.

Registration continues through April 1 for a pair of adult basketball tournaments sponsored by the Montgomery County recreation department.

The foul-shooting contest will be April 4. The one-on-one battle will be April 4-6. Both contests will be at Christiansburg Middle School.

Trophies will be awarded for first and second place. The fee is $20 per tournament.

For more information, call TIM COONEY, supervisor of athletics, at 382-6975.

The Christiansburg Department of Parks and Recreation has four spaces available for its April 17 trip to the First Union 500 at North Wilksboro, N.C., Speedway.

The cost is $45. Anyone under age 18 may register if accompanied by a paying adult.

For more information, call ART PRICE, the director of parks and recreation, or CHUCK MUNCY, the supervisor of athletics, at 382-2349.

Blacksburg Parks and Recreation and Blue Ridge Outdoors will cosponsor a beginning in-line skating class.

The class will be held May 8 at 1 p.m. at the Blacksburg Transit Department parking lot.

The cost for the lesson is $4. Skate, pad and helmet rental are available through Blue Ridge Outdoors.

The registration deadline is May 2. For more information, call DEAN B. CRANE, outdoor supervisor, at 961-1133.

MEETINGS: Another sure sign of spring are the meetings for outdoor sports.

There will be a mandatory meeting for anyone interested in coaching youth baseball in Montgomery County on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Room B on the third floor of the Montgomery County Courthouse in Christiansburg.

For more information, call TIM COONEY, supervisor of athletics, at 382-6975.

The Town of Pulaski will hold a Men's Softball League meeting April 7 at 7 p.m. at the Municipal Building.

Teams interested in participating should call the town's 24-hour sports information line at 980-8343 and leave a message with the team name, coach's name and telephone number.

The entry fee is $350 per team and is due by April 25.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS: And to make any good recreational sports program go, there need to be people willing to get involved and help out.

Montgomery County needs volunteer baseball coaches, paid baseball umpires, softball umpires, golf instructors, tennis instructors and scorekeepers, and team sponsors.

To volunteer or for more information, call TIM COONEY, supervisor of athletics, at 382-6975.

The Town of Pulaski is seeking youth baseball, softball and tee-ball coaches.

To volunteer, call the town's 24-hour sports information line at 980-8343.

HONORS: Kudos for ART PRICE, the director of Parks and Recreation for Christiansburg.

Price has been appointed to serve as the state coordinator for the Washington Redskins NFL Gatorade Punt, Pass and Kick program by the Virginia Recreation and Park Society.

He will be working with Universal Marketing Associates of Atlanta, public park agencies throughout the state and the Virginia Jaycees to coordinate local Punt, Pass and Kick competitions.

INFORMATION PLEASE:If you would like to get information in the Community Sports Notebook, there are several ways to do so.

You can write us at the Roanoke Times & World-News, New River Valley Bureau, P.O. Box 540, Christiansburg, Va., 24073.

Or you can drop off information at our office at 114 Peppers Ferry Road (that's across from New River Valley Mall).

Or you can fax information to us at (703) 381-1656.

So please let us know what you know. And be sure to include full names and a contact number, just in case we need more information.

Notices have to be received by Friday to appear in the Community Sports Notebook the following week. And if you are sending in information about upcoming events or sign-ups, please send them in early enough to be run in advance of the date when things will happen.



 by CNB