ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604290115
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on Apr. 29
The name of Briana Grose, a William Byrd student who finished second
in the senior girls' 1,600 meters in the Cosmopolitan track and field
invitational, was misspelled in Sunday's editions.
TRISH NERVO finally wins at the Cosmopolitan, setting meet records in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races.
While the Patrick Henry boys tuned up for a run at potential district, regional and state championships, Cave Spring's girls gave track fans a view of the future during the Cosmopolitan Club track and field invitational.
Patrick Henry didn't have a tough time holding off William Fleming, Christiansburg and Staunton River for the boys' title Saturday. Meanwhile, Cave Spring beat Lord Botetourt by three points and William Fleming by six for the girls' crown.
Still, the force in this meet was Trish Nervo, who despite national acclaim in running, never had won a Cosmo event.
The Glenvar senior established herself once again as the best distance runner in the state regardless of classification as she set two Cosmo records and blew out the field in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.
The defending Group A champion in both events and a third-place finisher in the Foot Locker national cross country run the past two years had never had any success in this meet. Last year, she was a two-time loser to Christiansburg's Bethany Eigel, who later won both events in the Group AA meet.
This is a different Nervo. In December, she stunned the field with her Foot Locker performance and earned a scholarship to North Carolina. Knowing she had no competition Saturday, Nervo set out to break records and succeeded as she broke the 8-year-old 3,200 mark of 11 minutes, 21.7 seconds set by William Byrd's Christy Atkins, who went on to run at the Air Force Academy.
So superior was Nervo that she eclipsed the mark by better than 16 seconds with an 11:05.0 clocking.
``That's what I wanted,'' Nervo said. ``I'm running much better than I was this time last year. Every year since I was a freshman, I didn't run indoors and it took me until the state to catch up with the other runners. This year I ran indoor'' track.
How fast can she go? She had a 10:54 in a dual meet at Glenvar and wanted to do it again Saturday, but was up against a fierce wind and a hard run in the 1,600. She finished the 1,600 in 5:01.7, almost five seconds faster than Eigel's time a year ago.
The Patrick Henry boys were led by Raheem Barnwell and Louis Booker, who took two individual running events and shared the spotlight on the Patriots' winning 400 relay team.
``We were a little sluggish in the field events. We always try to score well in those and we came out with a 53. We figured that was enough to win, but if we want to do well down the road, we have to do better,'' said Jeff Johnson, PH's coach.
Shawn Akers, another top Patriots performer, got a wakeup call from Staunton River's Ahmed Sangbana, who won the 100. ``He beat me out of the blocks,'' Akers said. ``I didn't know a lot about him.''
Booker and Akers did get the best of Sangbana in the 200, but Staunton River accomplished its goal to get the foreign exchange student some competition to prepare him for regional and state competition on the Group AA level.
``I'm happy with what we did here,'' said Staunton River coach Joe Curcio, whose team was a close fourth. ``We couldn't have gotten this good a competition at any other meet, and I think people will know we were here.''
Joining Booker and Barnwell as two-time winners in the boys' competition were Cave Spring's Mike Mitchem (shot and discus) and Ben Dowdy (both distance races). Staunton River's Ronnie Goff, who won the 400 and 800 last year, lost in the 400 as Booker broke his record. He recovered to win the 800.
The girls' meet was a tight one, with Cave Spring rallying at the end to nip Lord Botetourt. The defining race came in the 800 meters when the Knights' Lynn Moore rallied to push past Lord Botetourt's Heather Chaffin at the line. Chaffin then was disqualified for running into Moore, costing her second place and costing the Cavaliers six points that could have given them a victory.
``I didn't think I could catch her,'' Moore said. ``She had a huge lead. I was struggling on the back stretch, but then I noticed she was struggling, too.''
Lord Botetourt got two victories each from Takisha Basham (discus and shot) and Wendy Heath (triple jump and 100 hurdles) to storm to an early lead in the Cavaliers' best events.
Heath's victory in the hurdles came against Salem's Cynthia Lundstrum, who set the record last year that the Cavalier senior broke Saturday.
``One time she'll get me and one time I'll get her,'' Heath said of her rivalry that extended to both placing in the 1995 Group AA meet. ``More times than not, she'll get me.''
Lundstrum reinjured a pulled hamstring Saturday. She hadn't run outdoors until the Cosmo.
Cave Spring, which boasts a team made up mostly of freshmen and sophomores, got a glimpse into the future as Beth Harms dominated the middle school event.
``I was very happy to finish on top,'' said Ken Wright, Cave Spring's coach. ``It kind of surprised me, especially after we lost Leann Agee, who was hurt in the high jump and couldn't race in the 800.''
The tough-luck runner of the day was James River junior Melissa Baker. The Group A runner was nipped at the line by William Fleming's Kiann Trent in the 300 hurdles and by the Colonels' Yvette Jackson in the 200-meter dash.
``I just hope this proves I can run with the Group AAA people,'' said Baker, who established her credentials as a threat in the Group A regional and state meets.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Long : 113 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PAUL L. NEWBY II/Staff. 1. Ahmed Sangbana (left) ofby CNBStaunton River wins the boys' 100 meters at the Cosmo on Saturday.
Shawn Akers (middle) of Patrick Henry was second, and Fenn
Crutchfield of William Fleming finished third. The PH boys won the
meet. 2. Trish Nervo of Glenvar pulls away from the field in the
girls' 1,600-meter run in the Cosmo on Saturday in Salem. color. 3.
William Fleming's Alesha Flint breaks from the blocks the first leg
of the girls' 400 relay race, which the Colonels won.