Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 8, 1995 TAG: 9506080043
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Stuff like the snack bags she distributes when Christiansburg High's track team takes to the road. Her snack bags have the additional appeal of being inscribed with a letter of the alphabet which, when put together with letters on other bags and unscrambled, spells out an inspirational slogan.
Stuff like the faculty parties she hosts at her place at the lake.
Stuff like her unapologetic love for routine school functions such as athletic awards banquets.
Is it any wonder that a whole school shares the joy of this wildly popular teacher and track coach at the first girls track state championship here? The one that was 27 years in the making?
``It seems like she never tires,'' said fellow faculty member and track aide Gary Brumfield.
Not these days, for sure.
``It's a feeling you just can't describe,'' Cox said. ``It's a natural high. Your feet never touch the ground.''
Behind the discus and shot heaving of Maureen Jackson (who won the shot), the discus flinging of Tamia McNeil, and the long distance footspeed of double winner (1,600 and 3,200 meters) Bethany Eigel, the Blue Demons stuck a fork in the opposition.
``I can remember when there wasn't a formal state championship and we went to little invitational meets driving in cars,'' Cox said.
Cox grew up in Lynchburg, her parents' only child. She was the girl who loved to play basketball and field hockey and run track. She went to Radford College where she was educated to be an educator.
She did her student teaching at Christiansburg High in her graduating year of 1968, apprenticing under Pat Barrett, later the basketball coach at Radford University. Before the year was out, then Christiansburg principal Buddy Earp had offered Cox a full-time job.
She never left.
``I love it here,'' she said. ``I always wanted to be a teacher. I was the one who sat down and read to the other kids in the neighborhood when I was young.''
At age 49, she still is young.
``I've always enjoyed Christiansburg as a town and I've always enjoyed the school she said. ``These are very easy people to work with. And the kids, the kids are the greatest here. Compared to other schools, problems here are very few.''
Cox was a pioneer. She started the girls basketball and gymnastics programs and nurtured the track team that Barrett had started into a full-fledged varsity enterprise.
Basketball and gymnastics, she passed on to others to coach. She held onto track. Through it all, she displayed an ability to inspire. Debbie Sherman-Lee, one of Cox's colleagues in the physical education department, remembers that part of Cox's personality well.
``I graduated in 1968 and I can remember my last two years having study hall that I wanted to get out of so I volunteered to be a P.E. teacher's aide,'' Sherman-Lee said. ``I was assigned to her. I can remember her enthusiasm and her love for the kids. I had always wanted to be a nurse, but after I worked with her, I wanted to go into P.E.''
Sherman-Lee was a sprinter for Cox on the track team.
``She's a great coach,'' Sherman-Lee said.
Cox and Christiansburg have come close to winning the state before. Several years ago, with a team featuring weight thrower Gloria Dillard, hurdler Amy Tate and distance runner Kim Cosgriff, the Blue Demons came in third.
Cox could see the possibilities for the current team years back.
``When some of the seniors this year were freshmen, they came to me and said, `Before we graduate, we're going to give you a state championship.' I don't think we've ever had a team like this here before.''
Christiansburg has never had a coach like Cox before, although she'd have you believe she's just another member of the coaching staff.
``We have experienced coaches who have been here for a while with [boys coach] Randy Bailey, and [assistants] Tim Blacksburg, Larry Watson and Brett Best,'' she said. ``I think the stability of the coaching staff has had a lot to do with our success.''
Cox may deflect the praise, but her fellow coaches pass it her way anyway.
``She's the glue,'' Bailey said.
by CNB