ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605100044
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: IN THE REGION
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Washington and Lee women's tennis team is one step away from the national championship.
The Generals upset Trinity (Texas) University, the No.2 team in the nation, 5-2 Thursday at the NCAA Division III championships. With the victory, W&L earned a berth in the final against Emory, a 5-4 winner over Kenyon, at noon today in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Washington and Lee (19-0) jumped out to an early 2-1 lead after taking two doubles matches. W&L's Natalia Garcia and Julie Ayers, the No.1 team in the country, knocked off the sixth-ranked tandem of Laura Brady and Vanessa Hill 8-4.
Berry Blankinship won a grueling match at No.3 singles 0-6, 6-4, 7-6, (5) that was the decisive contest. Garcia and Ericka Shapard already had won at No.1 and No.2 singles, respectively.
In other sports in the region:
The Grayson County girls' tennis team captured the Mountain Empire District regular-season title by defeating Narrows 8-1 in their regular-season finale.
Catie Satterwhite, Teaka Wright, Kim Phelps and Courtney McKnight won singles matches as Grayson County finished the season with a record of 10-1 overall, 8-0 in the district. Satterwhite and Wright and Sally Werth and Megan Reedy teamed to win doubles matches.
Satterwhite and Wright will play in the Region C doubles championship, which starts Monday at Fort Chiswell. Grayson County will play in the tournament on May 20 in Lexington against an undetermined team.
Christiansburg's boys' and girls' tennis teams advanced to the Region 4 tournament next week based on regular-season results.
In the New River District tournament single semifinals, Christiansburg's Jesse McHost defeated Carroll County's Andy Utt 6-2, 6-2. McHost teamed with Joel Brown to defeat Utt and Jack Wolford 6-4, 6-4 in the doubles semifinals. The finalists advanced to today's title matches against Blacksburg at 4 p.m. at Christiansburg.
In girls' action, Carroll County's Jennifer Watkins defeated Christiansburg's Sue Ann Lefko 6-1, 6-0. In doubles play, Watkins teamed with Katie Johnson to down Lefko and Michele Goncz 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. Watkins and Johnson advanced to today's finals.
Martinsville whipped Bassett 7-2 in the Piedmont District boys' tennis tournament at Magna Vista to earn a spot in today's championship match. The Bulldogs will face Fieldale-Collinsville.
Martinsville's Brian Biga and Fieldale-Collinsville's Arnold Patel will meet for the singles' title. Biga and Kevin Graveley will take on Patel and Brad Harmon for the doubles' crown.
Martinsville beat Bassett 9-0 in the Piedmont District girls' tennis tournament to earn a spot opposite Fieldale-Collinsville for in the championship match.
Pole-vault results from the Blue Ridge District boys' track meet were left out of Wednesday's report because they did not count toward the team championship. Alleghany's John Newkirk leaped 11 feet, 6 inches and had fewer misses as he defeated Northside's Nick Strock, who had the same height. Northside's Brett Shawn, Mike Bowen and Jon Wirt followed. All five will jump in the Region III meet next week at Liberty University.
William Watkins had a goal and two assists and Brad Fielder recorded the shutout as North Cross beat the Miller School 5-0 in a Virginia Independent Conference boys' soccer semifinal on the Raiders' field. North Cross will meet Hargrave Military, an 8-0 winner over Roanoke Catholic, in the championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday on the Raiders' field.
Emory & Henry sophomore center Jason Light has received word that he won the 1995-96 NCAA Division III field-goal percentage title.
Light, a former basketball player and graduate of Floyd County High School, finished the season with a school-record 70.4 field-goal percentage. He made 207 of the 294 shots he attempted. Light also set a national record when he made all 18 of his field-goal attempts on Dec.1, 1995 against King College. He scored a career-high 41 points in that game.
Washington and Lee's Graig Fantuzzi and Randolph-Macon College's Jenn Kohler have been named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference's 1996 Scholar-Athletes of the Year. The selections were made earlier this week in a vote by the league's athletic directors.
Fantuzzi set four W&L records this season for most hits (45), at-bats (119), doubles (13) and stolen bases, going 17-for-17. He led the Generals with a .378 batting average and is graduating with the second-highest grade point average in school history.
Kohler was a three-time soccer All-American and is the Yellow Jackets' all-time leading scorer in basketball with 1,598 points. The 1996 ODAC women's basketball player of the year recently was awarded a postgraduate scholarship and will pursue a career in physical therapy.
University of Virginia golfer Simon Cooke has been selected the ACC Player of the Year in voting by the league's coaches. He is the first Cavalier to win the honor.
North Carolina State's Tim Clark was chosen Rookie of the Year and Larry Penley of Clemson was tabbed Coach of the Year.
Cooke, a senior from Richmond, also was named to the All-ACC golf squad for the third consecutive season. He currently lead the team in stroke average this season (72.36) and is ranked ninth nationally in the Rolex/Nicklaus individual rankings.
Former University of Virginia basketball player Audra Smith has been promoted to a women's basketball assistant coach's position at the school. Smith, who spent the past two years as a restricted earnings coach for the Cavaliers, replaces Tammi Reiss who resigned last month.
Kelly Fackler (Fieldale-Collinsville High School) has been named to the second team of the All-Atlantic Region softball team. The Lynchburg College shortstop led the Hornets with a .504 batting average. Fackler had two home runs, 12 triples, seven doubles and 42 RBI as she established 11 Lynchburg records this year.
David Dudley of Lynchburg is in 25th place after two days of the BassMaster Alabama Top 100 fishing tournament at Lake Neely Henry in Gadsen, Ala. He has caught 10 fish totalling 21 pounds, 3 ounces. Clark Wendlandt of College Station, Texas, is in first place after catching 10 fish totaling 33 pounds, 15 ounces.
LENGTH: Long : 122 linesby CNB