ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603180036
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: IN THE REGION
SOURCE: STAFF REPORTS
VMI basketball coach Bart Bellairs and football coach Bill Stewart will sign new long-term contracts Monday at the school's Marshall Library.
The two second-year coaches will be part of a signing ceremony to be held at 11 a.m. Although no details were available, Bellairs' contract is expected to be six years in length, with Stewart's in a similar range.
Stewart is 5-17 in two years, and last season led the Keydets to their best record since 1991. Bellairs' 1995-96 club went 18-10 for VMI's first winning season since 1984-85 and its best overall season since 1977-78.
In other area news:
* The United States women's national volleyball team will face a Russian team in an exhibition match at the Roanoke Civic Center on April 19 at 7:30 p.m.
The USA-Russia match will be preceded by an exhibition between the Virginia and Virginia Tech women's teams.
Tickets for the match are $8 and $12 and are available at the civic center box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets.
* Jeffrey McCloud swam the men's 13-14 200-yard individual medley at the Virginia State Junior Olympics in 2 minutes, 3.32 seconds on Friday, to qualify for the YMCA Nationals.
McCloud, who swims for the Roanoke Valley Swim club, helped lead his team to 539 points, good enough for third place after two days of the four-day, 31-team event at the Dedmon Center.
Andy Bauman, of Carter Center Aquatics, finished the men's 11-12 50 butterfly in 26.82, one of the top 16 times in the nation. Teammate Laura Dichtel won the women's 13-14 200 IM in 2:13.68.
Martha Snead of RVS won the women's 11-12 50 butterfly in 27.52 seconds for a top 16 time in the nation. Teammate Jamie Spradlin won the women's 13-14 200 freestyle in 1:55.61.
Betsy Garratt, a member of the Southwest Aquatics Team, won the women's 13-14 100 breast stroke in 1:08.8.
* Katina Horton of Hollins and Rebecca Prince of Washington and Lee received honorable mention All-America status at the Division III swimming championships in Atlanta.
Horton was fourth in the consolation finals of the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.72 seconds. She will defend her national title in the 200 butterfly today.
Prince finished sixth in the consolation finals of the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.75.
ETC. Tech gets 1st softball victories
Virginia Tech won the first two softball games in the program's brief history, beating Maryland-Eastern Shore 9-1 and Massachusetts-Lowell 5-4 in the Hampton Invitational in Hampton.
In the first game, Tina Diamond picked up the win, going the five-inning distance and allowing just three hits and striking out eight against Maryland-Eastern Shore. Melissa Sanderson was 3-for-4 with three RBI.
In the second game, Tech (2-8) rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh on four consecutive hits to grab the win. Heather McKenzie picked up the win in relief with three scoreless innings of work.
* Radford made a clean sweep on the first day of the UNC-Wilmington Fastpitch Softball Tournament at Wilmington, N.C.
Chassity Chronick went 2-for-2 with five RBI as the Highlanders beat Mount Olive 10-0. Susie Rath went 2-for-3 and Cindy Larkin was 1-for-1 with two RBI.
Marissa Pickel went 3-for-3 with a single, a double and a triple and drove in two runs as Radford downed Charleston Southern 4-2.
The Highlanders (20-9) used an extra inning to defeat Maryland 7-3. Lori Reilly went 2-for-4 with one RBI, Erinn Corry was 1-for-4 with three RBI and Amy Hausman went 1-for-3 and drove in one run.
* John Fuller scored three goals and added two assists as Washington upended Roanoke 14-9 in a men's lacrosse game in Salem. The score was tied at 6 at the half, but Washington (2-2) went on a 6-1 scoring spurt in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach for the Maroons (3-1). Jeff Jones scored four goals and assisted on three others for Roanoke.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB