Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 18, 1995 TAG: 9505190021
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As a senior, it's Watson's turn. So far, she's making the best of being a dominant girls' track star in Timesland. In the first big meet of the spring, the Cosmopolitan Track and Field Invitational, Watson won the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes and placed third in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump.
``For three years, I ran behind Crosby, but then she pushed me,'' Watson said. ``Now, everybody is behind me, and it's a tough position. I have to push them to catch me.''
``Michelle beat Arminta a couple of times in indoor track. That gave her a little incentive,'' Fleming coach Rudy Dillard said of the long battle that ended when Crosby graduated last year.
Winning a trio of dashes in the Cosmo is one of the toughest things to do. When Watson participates in the Northwest Region with hopes of doing well in the Group AAA state meet, she won't try for a Cosmo repeat. Watson will concentrate on running the 100 and 200 dashes, participating on the 400 relay team and doing the jumps.
Dillard discovered Watson at Ruffner Middle School and, after seeing her run, figured she'd be good.
``I didn't think she'd be quite this good,'' Dillard said. ``Michelle is a better runner than last year. She came out for cross country this fall and is stronger. She has set higher goals this season and worked a lot harder.
``I knew she had the potential, but sometimes athletes don't work as hard as they need to do.''
``Arminta and I talked [after last year]. She told me to go all out and try to be a role model,'' Watson said about working harder to set an example for younger runners in the area.
Watson wasn't always a runner. Paul Moyer, who coaches Inter-City track during the summer, called her about running. ``It was when I was about 14, in eighth grade,'' Watson said. ``I had become a close friend of Coach Moyer's son [P.J., a Roanoke Catholic football star], and he was the first one to ask me if I wanted to run.''
Before that, her only running experience was an informal session from her father, George Journiette. They'd go to the track or play tennis together.
``When I was young, he'd make me run against the boys,'' Watson said. ``I didn't think I could beat them, but I'd get them.''
At Ruffner, Watson made up her mind to run track full time. ``We had seen the kids practicing at Fleming,'' she said. ``I didn't like anything else, so I just decided to run track as a sport.''
There was no question she'd be a sprinter. ``I really didn't like running long distances, so I worked hard on my specialty so I could stay in sprinting.''
Watson has been accepted to East Tennessee, which has talked to her about participating in track. She is awaiting her SAT scores before discussing a scholarship, but Watson wants very much to run track at the next level.
Then, Watson hopes to take a lesson from former Fleming star Tracy Claytor, who ran at Radford and is now an assistant coach, and give something back to her community.
She also wants to improve her performances in the spring meets that count - the Northwest Region next week and the Group AAA state the first weekend in June. So far, she has yet to place in the state and, in the last two years, hasn't even met her preseason objectives.
``As a freshman, I wanted to make the state,'' Watson said. She did that, and it appeared as if Dillard had a great sprinter on his hands.
The next two years were disappointing. ``As a sophomore, I wanted to make the state and make it through a qualifying round,'' Watson said. ``As a junior, I wanted to make it past the semifinals into the final eight.''
Watson did neither and had to go to state as a junior on qualifying times in the dashes when she failed to finish among the top six at the Group AAA Northwest Region.
``This year, I have to make it through the state trials and place. At least in the 100. That's my specialty,'' Watson said.
And in the 200? ``At first, I didn't like it. I like it now. Working on it in practice has made it easier,'' she said.
``There's pressure as a senior. I want to do well in the state so everyone will look up to me. I don't want to let my family or team members down.''
Dillard says, regardless of the past or the future, this is a good season for Watson.
``Her work habits were better,'' Dillard said. ``She's a team leader. She's an unofficial captain, because I don't elect captains. The young girls are following Michelle.''
by CNB