Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 28, 1995 TAG: 9505300087
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG LENGTH: Long
A Timesland team winning the Group AA girls' state track title is not unusual. For Christiansburg it is a first.
The Blue Demons, bolstered by two wins from Bethany Eigel, won their first championship Saturday by outdistancing Broadway 34-30. The runner-up got all of its points on first-place finishes by sophomore Keena Schuler in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes.
Christiansburg's title is the ninth in the past 11 years for a Timesland team and the sixth for the New River District.
Charlottesville dominated the boys' competition, winning with 90 points.
A cool, cloudy day - perfect for runners - helped Eigel execute the difficult task of winning both the 1,600 and 3,200 runs.
``I don't think I've ever run in weather this perfect,'' Eigel said. ``No sun, no wind. I'm not sure the sprinters liked it, but I did.''
Christiansburg also got a first-place finish in the discus from Maureen Jackson, who won by a big margin over Altavista's Shmonica Moore. Tamia McNeil's fourth-place finish in the same event accounted for the rest of the Blue Demons' points.
``All the girls performed well,'' Christiansburg coach Norma Cox said. ``Even our mile relay that didn't place ... ran its personal best.''
That the meet was close didn't surprise Cox.
``If anybody could get 35 or above, I figured that team would be in the running,'' she said. ``These kids worked hard together and have been on the teams for four years. So they deserved something like this.''
The only other Timesland champion was Salem junior Cynthia Lundstrum , who won the 100 hurdles and finished fourth in the 300 hurdles as her Spartans finished sixth with 23 points. There were no boys' champions from Timesland.
Eigel had to outduel Blacksburg junior Sarah Hendricks to win the 1,600. Eigel led the first two laps, then fell behind Hendricks before sprinting past her in the final 200 meters.
``I wanted to get off to a fast start,'' Eigel said. ``Then she [Hendricks] got away from me. I wasn't on her shoulder, so I had to work to get back up there.''
``I was planning to go hard with 600 to go, but she got me,'' Hendricks said.
Eigel finished the race in 4 minutes, 59.72 seconds, Hendricks in 5:00.65.
Despite being from the same district and regional, the two hadn't crossed paths many times this year because Hendricks was running shorter races earlier.
``I guess you could say we're rivals on the track and friends off it,'' Hendricks said. ``I guess we help each other out and that makes each of us go faster.''
In the 3,200, though, it wasn't close. Eigel, whose brother Brian never was able to win both distance races when he was at Christiansburg, took a big lead early and won easily with an automated time meet-record and personal-best of 10:59.6.
``I was surprised,'' Eigel said. ``I figured we'd be in a pack for the first mile.
``It wasn't my goal to set a record, but rather to get in the low 11s and low fives [for the 1,600].''
Jackson has better discus throws than the one of 130 feet, 7 inches that won her a title.
``But I was happy with today,'' she said. ``I've been here three years and I think I was more nervous today. I scratched in my first throw in the discus.''
Lundstrum wasn't nervous and opened the first running event by giving Timesland a winner.
``I felt really good,'' the junior said. ``This atmosphere, seeing all the people. It's hard to explain.
``I didn't feel any pressure being the fastest time [coming into the race]. I really didn't know anything about the different runners.''
Lundstrum's fellow hurdler, senior Amy Pitts, had been expected to score and put the Spartans in a race for second or third place. But Pitts suffered an ankle sprain when she hit a hurdle in the 100 and had to pull out of the 300.
The Spartans' 400 relay team of Shellie Johnson, Marilyn Huang, Shelva Clemons and Shanell Manning finished second.
Northside sophomore Emily Hollett finished fourth in the high jump at 5-3.
On the boys' side, While the Timesland boys didn't win any firsts in a field dominated by Charlottesville with 90 points as they easily won the team title,three area participants did well in the high jump.
Bassett's Tyree Hairston finished second at 6-8, ahead of Laurel Park's Floyd Martin (fourth) and Salem's Faisal Khan (fifth).
``I was here last year and didn't place,'' said Hairston, who plans to play basketball at either Averett or Virginia Union next fall. ``But you get the feel and know what to expect.''
Martin jumped 6-7 after never having reached better than 6-2 previously.
``I just felt good, that's all,'' Martin said. ``I've never even done this well in practice.''
Khan, who hadn't run track in years, finished at 6-6. He missed at 6-7, the same height he cleared in winning the Cosmopolitan meet earlier this spring.
``I could have gone higher [on the last jump], but my legs just got turned,'' said Khan, who will give up athletics to study pre-med at Virginia Commonwealth.
Staunton River's Ronnie Goff knew he made a tiny mistake that cost him a state title and left him in third place in the 800.
The Golden Eagle junior started his kick just a few minutes too late, finishing strong but just a few meters short.
``I should have kicked halfway around the curve, but I waited until the final straightaway. I had planned to do it that way and if I had, I would have won,'' he said.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
by CNB