Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 28, 1995 TAG: 9506020023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
\ Trish Nervo and Tomika Saunders each made a mark on the Group A track meet at the University of Virginia's Lannigan Field.
Nervo, a junior at Glenvar, swept the distance events Saturday afternoon and set state records for the 1600 (5 minutes, 5.45 seconds) and 3200 meters (10:58.62).
Saunders scored 31 points in five events, helping the Giles girls to a second-place finish with 39 points.
Surry County won the girls' team title with 46 points, and King William was third with 31.
The only other Timesland teams in the top 15 were Glenvar (eighth, 20 points) and Floyd County (11th, 15 points).
Charles City won the boys' meet with 46 points and Cumberland was the runner-up with 36.
Floyd County and Covington finished in a five-way tie for third with Central Woodstock, Powell Valley and Ameila at 26 points.
Also doing well from Timesland were Narrows and Parry McClure, which tied for 13th with 12 points.
Nervo had planned on concentrating on just the 3200, an event in which she set a state record last year.
``But I kind of figured I'd go for times in both events," Nervo said.
Nervo met her goal in the 1600, winning by more than 15 seconds and breaking the state record set in 1989 by Beck Runion of Central Woodstock by nearly five seconds.
In the 3200, she only hoped to break 11:20.
``I wanted to break 11 but I didn't think I would get it today," said Nervo, whose next goal is to break five minutes in the 1600. "I didn't realize it. I heard people telling me I was running under. But I thought they were talking about 11:20, not 11 minutes."
Nervo broke her own state record by more than 22 seconds and won the race by nearly a minute.
Saunders won the long jump, finished second in the 200, third in the high jump and 400, and sixth in the triple jump. The only event she didn't score in was the 100, where she reached the finals but did not place.
"When I came here, I didn't think I would win an event,'' said Saunders, a senior. ``I guess I just ran a little harder and got a little more out there [in the long jump]. I was just trying to get a good jump. When I hit it, I didn't think I had gone that far [17 feet, 7 1/2 inches]. I thought it was 15 or 16 feet, but not 17.''
Meanwhile, changes in tactics led some others from Timesland to victory.
For Narrows' Melissa Lucas, going back to her old way in the shot put enabled her to set a personal best. ``We've been using a new technique,'' said Lucas, a junior. ``I asked coach [Wally Dunford] if I could go back to the old way. He said if I threw 37 feet, he would buy me something to eat. If not, I would have to buy my own food. When I let it go, I thought it might have been 37, but it wasn't.''
Still, Lucas' heave of 36-10 was good enough to win the event.
In the boys' 1600, Ben Cooke of Floyd County changed shoes and recorded a time that was nearly 15 seconds better than his time in last week's Region C meet.
``This is the first race I've used my flats,'' said Cooke, a junior who also finished second in the 3200. ``This is what matters. These shoes are a lot lighter.''
Cooke had been running in heavier training shoes, but with the lighter flats he passed Region C champion Chris Merrill of Covington on the home stretch and finished in 4:22.6, one-tenth of a second faster than the state record set by Paul Johnson of Luray in 1984.
Merrill got his revenge in the 3200 though, winning in 9:46.30.
``That was a lifetime goal of mine'', said Merrill, a senior. ``I don't have much of a short kick. You can print that now since I'm done with high school track. So I had to turn the whole last leg into a kick.''
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by CNB