ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290094
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
Bristol International Raceway is now the Bristol Motor Speedway.
Bruton Smith bought the track earlier this year and decided to change its name. The new name was announced Tuesday.
The half-mile banked oval is the site of two NASCAR Winston Cup races each year.
Smith is chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc. and owns Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.
``The stockholders of Speedway Motorsports take particular pride in ownership of our track in Bristol, and we feel its name should reflect its prominent position in our family of speedways,'' Smith said.
In other sports in the region:
* Virginia Tech will stage a groundbreaking ceremony at 12:15 p.m. today outside Rector Fieldhouse to kick off construction of a $1.8 million track-soccer complex on the university campus. Work actually began April 11 on the complex, which will be located just off Southgate Drive, near Lane Stadium and adjacent to English Baseball Park and Rector Fieldhouse. The tentative completion date is Nov. 1.
* Washington and Lee's Natalia Garcia has been named to the GTE Academic All-District III Women's At-Large Team. The sophomore tennis player has a 3.66 grade-point average. She has not decided on a major.
* Four University of Virginia athletes are scheduled to compete in the NCAA Women's Track & Field Championships beginning today in Eugene, Ore. They are: Angela Lee (400-meter intermediate hurdles), Kelly Miller (long jump), Sharon Servidio (10,000-meter run) and Ann Crouse (javelin).
* The United States Olympic soccer team will play a pair of exhibition games in Richmond on June 22 and 24. Billed as the U.S. Olympic Soccer Challenge, the games will be played at the University of Richmond stadium.
Guided by former University of Virginia coach Bruce Arena, the U.S. squad will play South Africa at 7:30 p.m. on June 22 and El Salvador at 7:30 p.m. on June 24.
All seating will be reserved at a cost of $20 for both games for adults and $14 for youth under 18. Individual game tickets are 12 for adults, $8 for youth under 18. For more information, call the Virginia Commonwealth ticket office at (804) 828-7267.
* The Colorado Silver Bullets, the only all-female professional baseball team, will play at City Stadium in Lynchburg at 7:05 p.m. today. Gates will open at 6:05.
Managed by former major-league pitcher Phil Niekro, the Silver Bullets have toured the United States for the past three years, playing men's amateur, semi-pro, collegiate and military baseball teams in major- and minor-league stadiums. In the team's first visit to Lynchburg, it will face the Yellow Submarine Lynchburg White Sox, a men's amateur team, in a nine-inning contest.
Reserved seating is $5 and general admission is $4. Children ages 5 and under will be admitted free of charge. Tickets may be otained from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hillcats office at the stadium. The stadium box office will be open one hour prior to game time.
* The Atlantic 10 Conference directors of athletics have approved the addition of men's and women's outdoor track and field to the league's championship schedule, comissioner Linda Bruno has announced. The ADs voted on the issue at their recently concluded annual meetings in Boca Raton, Fla.
Fordham, La Salle, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, St. Joseph's, Temple and Virginia Tech sponsor both men's and women's outdoor track and field, while Dayton and Duquesne field women's team only. The addition of outdoor track and field brings to 21 the number of championships sponsored by the Atlantic 10.
PREPS Giles stops Fort Chiswell 8-6
Giles built a five-run lead, then held on for an 8-6 victory over Fort Chiswell in a Region C quarterfinal baseball game in Pearisburg.
Chris Hutchison and Jimmy Smith combined for four of the Spartans seven hits as Ben Brown overcame seven walks to go the distance. Brown (7-0) gave up four hits and struck out four as Giles advanced to a meeting with Bath County at 2 p.m. Thursday at John Battle High School in Bristol.
Mike White went the distance on the mound for Fort Chiswell and provided much of the Pioneers' offense with a solo home run in the third and a three-run blast in the seventh.
* In Danville, GW-Danville performed a successful squeeze bunt with the bases loaded in the bottom of 11th to edge Cave Spring 5-4 in the quarterfinals of the Northwest Region baseball tournament.
Cave Spring (13-8) has lost four tough extra-inning games this season - one in eight innings, two in nine innings and this one. The Knights were led by Greg Wells, who was 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Doug Kenney, who was also 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Cave Spring got a fine pitching performance from Scott Shirley, who went 5 1/3 innings and gave up four runs on four hits while striking out eight.
GW-Danville (15-6) advances to the semifinals, where they will take on the winner of Tuesday's North Stafford-Potomac game.
* Nick Lively went 2-for-5 with two RBI and pitched a three-hitter as Virginia High pounded Carroll County 12-0 in a Region IV baseball tournament game in Hillsville. Lively pitched a complete game.
Landon Kirk went 2-for-4 with four RBI, a home run and a double for the Bearcats, who will travel to Tazewell on Thursday. Jeremy Christian went 2-for-4 with three RBI.
Carroll County starter Ryan Morris (7-2) gave up five runs in 42/3 innings. Reliever Jason Vass lasted two innings and Kevin Sizemore pitched the final one-third of an inning. The Cavaliers finished 12-8.
* Dennis Loan's three-run single in a four-run first inning got Bath County started as the Chargers rolled past Lebanon 11-3 in Region C baseball action in Hot Springs.
Bath County (17-3), which got two hits from Josh Smith, used three hits and three walks to score four runs in the third.
* Jess Vanderploeg pitched a one-hitter as Albemarle defeated Franklin County 11-1 in a Northwest Region quarterfinal game at Albemarle. Christy Brown (3-3) took the loss as the Eagles finished the season at 13-9.
* J.J. Sowers and Sonya Hylton combined for four hits and eight RBI as Floyd County pounded Fort Chiswell 29-1 in a Region C softball game in Floyd. Sowers (13-1) picked up the victory for the Buffaloes (20-2), who have won their past 15 games. Floyd County will face Glenvar, a 4-1 winner over John Battle, in the semifinals Thursday at Radford University.
* Rain has forced the postponement of several regional and state competitions featuring Timesland individuals and teams.
The Group AA boys' tennis tournament scheduled for Winchester, featuring Blacksburg and William Byrd in team play as well as several individuals, will not start until Thursday, with finals scheduled Friday.
In baseball, the Northwest Region game with Heritage at Franklin County has been called off until 7 tonight.
Some Region III softball (at Tunstall) and baseball (at Amherst County) has been postponed until today. Lord Botetourt and Northside are Timesland teams entered in softball; William Byrd and Salem are in the baseball tournament.
In Region C baseball, Covington at John Battle and Shawsville at Grayson County will be played today. In softball, half the games were postponed in that tournament also with Bath County going to Castlewood and Radford to Galax being pushed back to today.
LENGTH: Long : 127 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB