ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605280130
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
Trish Nervo was all alone again.
The Glenvar High senior had only herself and the clock to battle on a cool and overcast Saturday afternoon at the University of Virginia's track for the Group A championships.
The relentless Nervo's back was but a distant dot to her nearest competitors in two races as she won the last pair of state championships of her distinguished career.
Her 1,600 meters was a meet record 5 minutes, 2 seconds, a performance she followed with a 10:59 in the 3,200.
That made it nine state championships for her, including four in cross country and five in track. She won the 3,200 three times and the 1,600 twice.
It is not the winning of another crown that is important to her so much as the manner in which it was done.
``I wanted to get under 5 minutes [in the 1,600],'' she said. ``But it's hard when nobody is up there racing with me. You want to have an idea of how fast you're going, but there's nobody there.''
Nor was there anybody there in the 3,200. The time wasn't her best, but it pleased her on another level.
``I wanted to get under 11 minutes,'' she said. ``I haven't done that in a while.''
Ben Cooke of Floyd County took aim at a double victory such as Nervo's but came away with just a 3,200 crown. He was third in the 1,600, an event in which he had set a state record while winning last year.
``The guy [winner Jason Long of Woodstock Central] ran a great race, and I'd much rather be beaten that way than to have run a bad race myself.''
Cooke turned it around by winning his first 3,200 championship, an improbable result considering the way the year has gone for him. A lung infection and a sore knee have dogged him the whole way.
Charlee Taylor of Radford did not attempt to run two races like Nervo and Cooke did. The junior opted to concentrate on her specialty, the 800, and that strategy paid off with her first state championship. A week ago, Taylor tried to run both the 1,600 and the 800 and ended up finishing fifth in the 800.
``This is the first time this year I've just run the 800,'' she said. ``I asked if I could do that.''
Mike Decker of Parry McCluer ran both the 400 and the 200 but could not pull off the double victory. He did win the 400 and being a junior, he'll have another shot at two firsts at the state meet next year.
Decker was surprised at the quick early pace in the 400 and waited for the race to come back to him. It did.
Mann Jones of Madison County, the early leader ``let it out too soon, I think,'' Decker said. ``You could see it going into the curve, he was sliding back.''
Kim Corvin of George Wythe won the shot put with a heave of 38 feet, 1 inch.
``I think everybody was a little off today,'' she said. ``So was I for a while until I got back on track, and everything clicked again.''
Another Timesland trophy case will be a little more crowded soon, because Melissa Baker of James River won the 300 hurdles.
In the team competition, Central of Woodstock won the boys' meet comfortably, but Patrick Henry of Glade Spring just squeaked by in the girls championship with a 1 1/2-point victory over New Kent.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 linesby CNB