ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 11, 1996 TAG: 9604110020
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
TYPE: HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
SOURCE: ANGIE WATTS STAFF WRITER
It's not always the case that less is more. Just ask Radford High School's girls' outdoor track coach Elaine Argabrite. The Bobcats' team has almost doubled in size from a year ago, a welcome change for the first-year coach.
"We have 26 girls this year, almost twice as many as last year," Argabrite said. "It's always nice to have a lot of depth. Having so many girls come out gives us a nucleus for a real good team."
Radford finished second in the Three Rivers District last season, and placed fourth out of 23 teams in Group A Region C competition.
"We have nine returning members from last year, but there's a lot of talent that has come out and we do anticipate another good season," Argabrite said. "The girls really seemed to be focused and you can't ask for more than that."
Leading the way for the Bobcats will be returning seniors Crystal Hubbard, Emily Jebo and Dianna Mitchell. Hubbard and Jebo both compete in the 100-meter, 200- and 4X400 relay team, while Mitchell will lead from the shot put and discus competitions. All three seniors advanced to the state meet last season in their respective events.
"I'm excited with the nine girls that are coming back, but I'm excited about the 17 new girls too," Argabrite said. "We have 11 freshmen this year and I see a lot of talent in that ninth-grade class. It really takes everybody to make a team."
A look at other area teams:
Auburn will not compete in team competitions, but coach Sherry Akers will have eight girls competing in individual events. One of those girls, senior Crystal Moles, broke the school's high-jump record April 3 in a meet against Three Rivers District foe Giles High School with a jump of 5-2. Moles has been hampered periodically, however, by knee and hip injuries.
"I think Crystal will go on to the state competition in the high jump as long as she stays healthy," Akers said. "But our goal is to get all eight girls to regional and then we'll go from there."
Other standouts for the Eagles include sophomore Bonnie Alderman and freshman Tammy Stiles. Alderman runs the 100 and 200, and Akers said she is looking to get her involved in hurdles as well. Stiles competes in the 100 and 300 hurdles.
The runner-up in the New River District last season, Blacksburg has its sights set on the title this year - the district Group AA state title, that is. The Indians return all 11 girls from last year's team in addition to adding 12 newcomers.
"We've got a good base of young runners," first-year coach Lee Cross said. "Our goal is to place well both at the regional and state meets. They made it a goal to win state this year and that doesn't mean we're the odds-on favorite, but we'd like to finish in the top three."
Senior captains Sarah Hendricks and Shelli Stevens have already qualified for the state meet, Hendricks in the 110 hurdles and Hendricks in the 1,600 and 3,200.
"We've been really turning to them," Cross said. "We'll look for them to score big in the big meets and to show great leadership."
Veteran coach Norma Cox is in her 27th year at the helm for Christiansburg, and will spend this year rebuilding after finishing 14-0 last season and capturing the New River District and Group AA State championships.
Cox lost 10 seniors off that championship team, including two individual state champions, and said she will look to senior Jessica Felton and juniors Lisa Dalton and Jenny Lambert, the Blue Demons' only upperclassmen, for leadership.
"We were the state champs last year and when you've got it all like that it's definitely a highlight," Cox said. "This is a rebuilding year. We've got some young kids who show great potential and our goal is to keep them excited and interested in the track program so when the cycle comes around again and they're seniors we'll have another great team."
Another longtime area coach is Floyd County's Winfred Beale. Beale is in his 17th year with the Buffaloes, and hopes to help his team improve upon last year's third-place finish in the Three Rivers District.
But Floyd County will have to do it without the services of Carrie Chaffin, who placed fifth in the state in discus last season but was lost to graduation, and senior Jenny Wimmer, who competed in both the shot put and discus events last year but because of conflicts is unable to run track this spring.
Beale said this year's leaders are his only two seniors, Melissa Cantrell and Sara Frailan. Cantrell and Frailan were two of the legs on the 4X100 relay team that placed sixth in the state, while Cantrell also took fifth place in the 300 hurdles.
"The district will be strong this year but we're still hoping to be one of the top teams," Beale said. "We'll shoot toward meets at the end of the year and try to get as many girls qualified for state as possible."
Perennial Group A Region C power Giles suffered a substantial loss with the graduation of Tomika Saunders, who averaged 50 points per meet in the Three Rivers District last year for the Spartans.
Coach Rusty Kelley will look to senior Keli Ratcliffe to help make up some of those points. Ratcliffe placed third in the state in discus as a sophomore and improved to take second place last year.
Megan Noble, Lori Talbert and Keeli Whetzel add depth in the hurdles and jumps, and Kelley said the Spartans are deep in the distance events as well.
Narrows is the favorite to repeat as Mountain Empire District Champions this year after after losing just one girl off last season's championship team. First-year coach Brian Bowles, who served as an assistant coach the two previous years, said his expectations are running high.
"Our goal is to win the district and we feel like we should since we only lost one person," Bowles said. "I'd like for the girls to win the region to and take as many as possible into the state competition."
The Green Wave advanced six girls to state last year, including junior Melissa Lucas, the eventual state champion in shot put. Lucas is one of only four upperclassmen for Narrows, and Bowles said she and senior captain Melissa Lawrence will lead the charge.
The goal this year for Pulaski County was to improve, and having won its first two meets this year, the Cougars already have reached that goal. Pulaski County didn't win any meets last year, having only 12 to 15 girls competing, but with 20 athletes this year, fourth-year Coach Scott Frye is excited about where his program is headed.
"We've had four years and we're getting there," Frye said. "I'm really excited this year ... the girls are really coming together."
Atop the pack of Cougars is sophomore Lea Hallstead, the returning Roanoke Valley District champion in the high jump. Hallstead captured the crown with a jump of 5-5 last year.
"What we wanted to do was improve and we've already done that," Frye said. "The girls want to win the district now ... that's the goal they set for themselves."
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON/Staff. Three seniors on this year's Radfordby CNBHigh girls track team are (from left): Emily Jebo, Crystal Hubbard
and Dianna Mitchell. color.