ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290117
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: IN THE REGION
Bristol International Raceway is now Bristol Motor Speedway.
Bruton Smith bought the track 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:
nVirginia 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. 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.
nWashington 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 declared a major.
nFour University of Virginia athletes are scheduled to compete at the NCAA Women's Track & Field Championships beginning today in Eugene, Ore. They are: Angela Lee (400-meter hurdles), Kelly Miller (long jump), Sharon Servidio (10,000) and Ann Crouse (javelin).
nThe men's U.S. 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. June 22 and El Salvador at 7:30 p.m. 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.
nThe 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, semipro, 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 younger will be admitted free of charge. Tickets may be purchased from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hillcats' office at the stadium. The stadium box office will be open one hour before game time.
* The Atlantic 10 Conference's athletic directors have approved the addition of men's and women's outdoor track and field to the league's championship schedule, commissioner 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 men's and women's outdoor track and field, and Dayton and Duquesne field women's teams only. The addition of outdoor track and field brings to 21 the number of championships sponsored by the A-10.
PREPS Cave Spring
squeezed in regional
In Danville, George Washington-Danville performed a successful squeeze bunt with the bases loaded in the bottom of 11th to edge Cave Spring 5-4 in a quarterfinal of the Northwest Region baseball tournament.
Cave Spring (13-8) has lost four extra-inning games this season - one in eight innings, two in nine innings and this one. The Knights were led by Greg Wells, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Doug Kenney, who also was 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Cave Spring got a fine pitching performance from Scott Shirley, who went 51/3 innings and gave up four runs on four hits while striking out eight.
GW-Danville (15-6) advances to a semifinal against the winner of Tuesday's North Stafford-Potomac game.
nAmy Layman fired a two-hitter and struck out 12 to lead Glenvar to a 4-1 victory over John Battle in a Region C softball tournament quarterfinal at Glenvar.
The Highlanders (16-5), who will play Floyd County on Thursday in a semifinal at Radford University, scored three runs in the sixth to break open a close game. Chrissy Lewis' two-run single was the big shot in the inning. Sheree Thompson scored a run and drove in a run for Glenvar.
nSeth Moore hit a home run in the top of the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie and give Salem a 3-2 victory over Chatham in a Region III quarterfinal baseball game at Amherst. Moore finished 2-for-4.
Chatham (14-8) took a 2-1 lead in the second inning and held it until the fifth, when Salem's Greg Harrison reached on a error by the center fielder and scored on a fielder's choice.
R.J. Beckwith picked up the victory. He gave up seven hits and two runs, struck out four and walked two. Chatham's Ken Brumfield took the loss, giving up seven hits and three runs, striking out seven and walking two.
Salem will face William Campbell in a semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Amherst.
nRain 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 pushed back to 7 tonight.
Some Region III softball (at Tunstall) has been postponed until today. Lord Botetourt and Northside are Timesland teams entered.
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 pushed back to today.
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