Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 11, 1995 TAG: 9506120027
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
When sports editor Bill Bern and I first discussed holding this event, I'm not sure where we thought it would go. We were just trying to jazz up the usual all-star teams picked by newspapers or coaches and celebrate some of the finest young athletes in Western Virginia.
During the past decade, this banquet has honored a parade of athletes who have given Timesland state championships in each and every sport. It would be impossible to pick the strongest sport in this area.
The first banquet might have been the last one if we hadn't believed there would be improvement. The motel partitioned off the room in which we were holding the banquet so that a corner was cut off to take in another party.
Some people sitting on the side of the head table couldn't see all of the room in front of the table because of the partition.
To make matters worse, Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, the speaker, had to talk over a band that was playing for the other party and could be heard through the thin partition.
Needless to say, the banquet did not return to that motel.
Radford's Laura Barta was to be named the first Timesland Athlete of the Year for girls. Then, as now, Timesland's athletes of the year didn't know they would receive the honor until the banquet.
Barta was scheduled to play in a state tennis tournament that day, but promised she would hurry in from the match to get the award as the top girls' player in that sport, plus her All-Timesland basketball certificate.
When Barta came in shortly after the program started, there was relief that Timesland's first athletes of the year would be present.
When the top award was announced at the end of the banquet, though, Barta was long gone. Not realizing she had a chance to win the award and tired from a full day, Barta left after receiving her tennis and basketball certificates.
Coaches from Group AAA schools once thought their athletes didn't have a chance to win Timesland's top award. That was because athletes from Group A or AA schools didn't concentrate on one sport, but sometimes played as many as four in one year. In Group AAA, many athletes concentrate on one or two sports.
Cave Spring's Lisa Hodges (1992 girls) and the Knights' Ronde (1992) and Tiki Barber (1993) destroyed that theory.
To win the boys' award, it usually has been necessary to be a star football player. Last year, Salem's Mark Byington destroyed that theory by becoming the first non-football player to win the boys' award.
All the girls' winners have had strong basketball seasons, but it usually comes down to the winner excelling in spring sports. For instance, Blacksburg's Gereme Alvarez (1991) came through as a runner to win the award when no one gave her a chance during the winter as she led Blacksburg to the Group AA runner-up spot in basketball. Her track ability was unknown until she dominated the state 800-meter run
Tonight we'll initiate something new when we present the Timesland Athlete of the Year award. First, we'll recognize some of the top nominees and then two previous winners - Byington and George Wythe's Anne Fontaine (1990) - will open an envelope to announce the winner much as it is done at the Academy Awards.
Byington's attendance at tonight's banquet means he's making up for missing the one last year. As a senior, Byington had a trip scheduled to the beach. When we had determined he would be the winner, I tried to impress on him that he might win and should stick around.
Byington, who is a class act, tried his best to find a ride for some friends who were supposed to go to the beach in his car. When he was unable to arrange transportation for his buddies, he regretfully said he couldn't attend.
That evening his father, Dale Byington, accepted his award. Later, he told his son he had won. Mark Byington was stunned, but that figures since he probably was the longest shot among the winners in the history of the award. His contributions to state championship teams in basketball and tennis tipped the award to him.
Tonight's banquet, which is for athletes of the year in all sports, plus the entire teams in basketball, wrestling and football, will be the final one for Husky Hall, who is retiring as Martinsville boys' basketball coach.
That reminds me of the night Hall collected a wrestling plaque for a Bulldog who wasn't there. When Doug Doughty, an assistant sports editor, got up to introduce the main speaker, he brought down the house by saying, ``I never thought I'd see the day that Husky Hall was accepting wrestling awards.''
It proves that anything can happen at the Timesland awards banquet.
FIDELITY CUP: It appears no Timesland school will win the Central Fidelity Cup, given for all-around sports excellence.
Glenvar, the 1993-94 Group A champion, was eliminated during the weekend when the Highlanders lost in the Region C semifinals in baseball and softball. Had either Glenvar team made the state tournament and won a game, the Highlanders likely would have won. Now Buffalo Gap, which didn't score a point this spring, will maintain a sizeable leader over Glenvar.
In Group AA, Christiansburg seemed poised to overtake Nansemond River when the Blue Demons won the girls' track and field title and the soccer team made the first round of the state tournament. However, Nansemond River's softball and baseball teams reached the state semifinals, assuring the Warriors of 75 points. With second-place Northside and third-place Gate City failing to score, Nansemond River should have enough to withstand a challenge by Christiansburg and Blacksburg, which won the boys' soccer crown.
In Group AAA, no Roanoke Valley District team was in contention.
OLD NAME, NEW COACH: Former Parry McCluer standout Dawn Coleman has been named girls' basketball and softball coach at E.C. Glass in Lynchburg. Coleman scored 908 points while playing basketball at Liberty University and ranks sixth on the Flames' all-time scoring list.
by CNB