Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 9, 1994 TAG: 9402090022
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Cox had finished fourth in the USATF World Cross Country trials, earning a berth on the six-man U.S. team that will compete at the cross country junior world championships in Hungary next month. He and Taylor had the town of Memphis, Tenn. - known for its eateries, nightclubs and musical history - to themselves.
Celebrate? Taylor asked his pupil.
"He said, `I'm pretty tired. I think I'll just get some sleep, because I've got to get up early and run, and I've got a lot of studying to do,' " Taylor said Monday. "When you see someone with that kind of attitude, you get excited."
That work ethic, Taylor said, has helped the 18-year-old Princeton, W.Va., native go from record-setting high schooler to junior national team member. At Athens High School, Cox broke Taylor's state record in the mile with a time of four minutes, 17.1 seconds. Taylor's mark was 4:20.0.
Cox was asked about putting out such effort.
"I feel I have to, mainly, in running and definitely in school," he said. "Whatever it takes, that's what I'll do."
He's done plenty for Tech as a freshman this year. He won the first three cross country races of his collegiate career last fall, setting a course record of 24 minutes, 58 seconds in the 8-kilometer Seahawk Invitational in Wilmington, N.C.
Cox trained for the national meet rather than compete in all of Tech's indoor track meets this year, but did win the mile and the 3,000-meters in the Virginia Tech College Invitational Jan. 21-22.
Taylor, who has competed for the U.S. national team in the marathon, suggested last fall to Cox that he should shoot for the junior national meet. Cox was all for it, but got worried in late October when a hip injury held him out of the Metro Conference cross country championships and the District III regional meet.
His performance at the Tech invitational in January soothed him.
"I knew if I could run healthy, I had a chance," he said of the cross country nationals.
Taylor knew it, too, but said he paused when he got the application for the nationals. Taylor thought the first eight runners would make the U.S. team; the application said only the first six would qualify.
He approached Cox with what he thought might be unsettling news.
"He said, `Oh, I've only been thinking [top] four, anyway,' " Taylor said.
That's where he finished, earning the first overseas trip of his life.
"I got out good, and just wanted to stay in close [to the lead]," Cox said. "I was pretty much up front the whole way. A couple of guys passed me, but I held my own."
Cox will go to Budapest, Hungary for the March 26 world championship; Taylor will, too, if Tech lets him. Before then, Taylor said, Cox will train for the Metro indoor championships at Tech Feb. 25-26. Then, the track team will spend March 5-12 in Gainesville, Fla. for more training and competition.
Cox is on full scholarship at Tech, and said he had partial or full scholarship offers from Penn State, West Virginia, Duquesne, Connecticut and the U.S. Naval Academy. Taylor was one of the reasons he decided to attend Tech.
"It's just a motivator," Cox said. "You look up to him and you just dream of being that good."
If Taylor has his way, Cox will be.
\ ETC: Tech's volleyball team added its second scholarship signee on Monday. Corrie Bundy, a 5 foot 11 middle blocker from Abingdon High School, joins Blacksburg High's Meredith Braine as the Hokies' only signees. Bundy was the Highlands District player of the year and a second-team all-Group AA choice in 1993, and she has helped Abingdon to a 19-0 record so far this year . . . In an eight-team tennis match last weekend that included Richmond, Navy, Davidson, Lynchburg, Averett, Winthrop and Landers College, Tech's men's team won all four quarterfinal matches to set up an all-Tech semifinal . . . Tech's women's tennis team, on the other hand, hosted a tournament last weekend that included 18th-ranked Virginia and George Washington and Richmond, ranked third and fifth respectively in the East Region. Tech won one match during the round-robin tournament.
\ UPCOMING IN BLACKSBURG: (All events at Cassell Coliseum unless otherwise noted). Women's basketball - VCU, 7 p.m. Feb. 12. Wrestling - George Mason, 2 p.m. Feb. 12; William and Mary, 2 p.m. Feb. 19. Men's tennis - Hampton, 1 p.m. Feb. 18 at Burleson/Burrows Tennis Complex. Women's tennis - Anderson College, noon Feb. 20 at Burleson/Burrows Tennis Complex. Indoor track - Open invitational, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Feb. 12 at Rector Field House; Tri-meet (with Emory and North Carolina-Wilmington), TBA, Feb. 19 at Rector Field House. For more information on Virginia Tech events, call 231-6726.
by CNB