Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 26, 1994 TAG: 9405260062
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RINER LENGTH: Long
Occasionally, he has done this on the track.
Even though Lumia is one of the better all-around athletes to step onto a field, court or track at Auburn in years, he may one day be better remembered for his appearances and performances in the hallways and classrooms.
If gaining the attention of others was a sport, Lumia would win by a nose, because his is surely the most bedecked schnoz this rural Montgomery County School has ever seen. A couple weeks back at a friend's house, Lumia implanted a metal stud into his left nostril.
In a way, Lumia is the nosestud on the stern, square-jawed face of Auburn athletics.
He tries to stay a step ahead of everyone, on the track and off, and occasionally winds up out of step with his more laid-back school chums. He likes it that way.
"I'm into alternative stuff," he said.
The rest of the crowd may like Garth Brooks, but Lumia listens to hard-rockers Lenny Kravitz, Smashing Pumpkins and Jane's Addiction.
His buddies go deer-hunting in the fall, but he opposes the killing of animals for any reason and prefers to take walks alone in the woods that surround his house in Childress.
Whereas other Auburn players may treat aches and pains with aspirin and Cramergesic, Lumia opts for unique treatments such as organic medicine and massage therapy.
His full name may be Vincent James Lumia III, but V.J. Lumia is one of a kind.
"Ah, ... he's a character," said Bob Sandy, Auburn's track coach.
There are those who would not refer to Lumia so diplomatically. His random acts of individualism - such as talking back when he doesn't want to do something - have not set well with some of the Eagles' coaches.
"I have a problem with authority, I guess," he said.
Now that he is nearing the end of his high school career, he realizes the consternation he created for guys whose job is to corral 15 to 20 boys and get them all headed in the same direction.
"I can see where they were coming from, now," he said. "At the time, I was pretty quick-tempered. I'm spontaneous."
Despite the occasional run-in with a coach, Lumia, a 6-foot-1, 155-pound senior, has had a distinguished sporting career at Auburn. He used his blazing speed to b.ecome a fine wide receiver and kick returner for a football team that enjoyed its best season in years when it won four games last fall. He was also a two-year starter on a basketball team that contended for the Mountain Empire District title.
His best achievements have come this spring in track. Last Saturday at Pearisburg, he won Region C titles in the high jump and the 200 meter dash. The week before at the MED meet, he won the high jump, 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes.
"To my knowledge, there's never been a person who won all the sprinting events in our district," said Auburn basketball coach Kevin Harris, who coached track during Lumia's freshman and sophomore seasons.
Lumia holds school records in the 200 (22.8 seconds) and the high jump (6-4). Sandy believes he has the potential to jump even higher at the Group A state meet Saturday at VMI.
"I would like to jump 6-6, because that's my dad's height," said Lumia. "I'd like to say I could jump over my dad."
He's been able to do pretty much what he's wanted to do this spring. When he won the 100 race in the MED, it was the first time he had run that distance all season. Even without training for the 100, he was only four-tenths of a second off the school record.
"He's probably one of the best athletes we've had here," said Sandy, who's also an Auburn football assistant. "We've had our ups and downs because of his individuality. He always wants to do something to stand out. I told him his ability does that."
There are other reasons Lumia stands out. For one, he's a handsome lad with a face illuminated by bright green eyes and framed by short jet-black hair and fashionably long sideburns.
"People try to portray me as a pretty boy," he said. "I got crap [about the sideburns] for two years. Then I got my nose pierced and nobody says anything about the sideburns anymore. Now, I've got to get something to beat my nose ring so nobody will say anything about that."
Always staying a step ahead of the crowd.
Lumia's attention-seeking antics go back to elementary school, when he tried to compensate for poor grades by being the class clown. It wasn't until after he was forced to repeat the third grade that his parents, John and Valerie Beasley, were told their son had dyslexia.
It was then that Lumia realized why he saw the world differently than did his peers.
"Dyslexia changed the way I was," he said. "The smarter kids had more friends. I had to be athletic, funny, and do crazy stuff to make friends."
These days, Lumia, 19, is an honor roll student and will graduate from Auburn with a 3.0 grade-point average. He plans to go to New River Community College and hopes to transfer to a larger university.
Before then, there's this business about the state track meet. If he wins, he wins. If he doesn't, he's still a step ahead.
"I don't have any goals," he said. "If you set a goal and don't reach it, it's very disappointing. ... All in all, this year has been a pleasant year. It seems like I'm more mature, although I don't act like it sometimes."
by CNB