Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 4, 1995 TAG: 9505040051
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
If you answered yes to the first two and no to the last part of the question, you get the Spartan trivia prize - the pleasure of watching these two compete against one another and make themselves better hurdlers.
It would be easy for them not to get along with each other: Last year in the Group AA state competition, Lundstrum finished second in the 100-meter hurdles while Pitts was fourth. Both placed, but it was the first time Lundstrum beat Pitts in the 100 last year, and it came in the biggest race of the season.
Yet it affected nothing. They are working together this spring, aware that whatever help they give each other might haunt them later on.
They look at the situation of being two of the state's better hurdlers with a mature view.
``It helps a lot" to have another good hurdler on the team, said Lundstrum, a junior. ``We can pace each other. It helps us get better so that we know what to expect at meets.''
``She pushes me. If there wasn't someone like that, I'd never get any better,'' said Pitts, a senior.
Pitts recalls the first classic race between these two. Lundstrum was a freshman, and they were competing at the Vince Bradford Relays in Salem.
``She beat me in the 300-meter hurdles,'' Pitts said. ``She was in the slow heat, I was in the fast heat. I didn't know what was happening.''
From that moment on, the two have traded victories while realizing that they're teammates and by running their best to help the Spartans in scoring, as well as getting personal attention.
``I met Amy as a freshman in indoor track,'' Lundstrum said. ``We were doing drills. It was kind of good she was there, because I had someone to protect me from my [older] brother, Russ. He did hurdles and he picked on me.''
Hurdles are the main event for both competitors. Both want to continue in college. Pitts has received a partial scholarship offer from Division II Millersville (Pa.), but is waiting to see if Division I East Tennessee or Virginia Tech offer scholarship help later this spring.
No matter what happens the rest of the season, it will be hard to tell which hurdler is best.
``It's a tossup,'' said Salem coach Tom Roth. ``It's sort of like one will win the 100 one week, and the other will win the 100 the next week. I can't say one is better than the other. They're both good. I think they realize that as one improves, that helps the other one to improve
``In track, if you get one good shot putter and then get another one, they'll help each other. The same is the same for distance runners, and it's the same in this case.''
Last year's state meet is over, but the two face the same possibility: one being disappointed and the other being ecstatic at next month's Group AA event in Harrisonburg.
``You'll have bad days and good days. It happened that she [Pitts] had a bad day, and I had a good day,'' Lundstrum said about last year's state. ``We returned from spring break, and I beat her in practice. Not everyone ran as well as they wanted to, but it changes from day to day.''
``It's always hard to be beaten,'' Pitts said. ``Last year [in the state] I was happy for her as a teammate, but as a competitor ... I didn't run well. I had a bad trial, and that put me in an outside lane. I don't like outside lane. I was mad at myself.''
The pair are able to operate under some unwritten guidelines. They never rub it in after a race.
``We leave each other alone for a while [after a race] if one of us is upset,'' Pitts said. ``We have to, because we work with each other so much. I spend more time with her than I do my family.
``We'll go out to dinner together. Like sometimes we might go to the Olive Garden for pasta before a meet.''
Both have fathers who are strong athletic influences. Lundstrum's father, Cliff, videotapes his daughter's races and they go over the results together. Pitts' father, Richard, was a track and football performer in college and then coached both sports at Glenvar before moving into administration.
``He's given me some tips, but knows I don't like it,'' Pitts said. ``So he's backed away and keeps his distance. We have good coaches, like Coach [Danny] Wheeling, who is like a father. In fact, I called him 'Dad' one day.''
Pitts also does triple and long jumps and placed in the triple jump at the Cosmopolitan Track Meet the last two years. Lundstrum, on the other hand, aims only to be a college hurdler.
Soon these two will go their separate ways, the better for having run against one another, known each other and been friendly rivals.
by CNB