ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607250020
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-7 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: IN THE REGION
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
The 1996 Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame Junior-Senior championships begin today at Botetourt Country Club.
Brandon LaCroix, Jason Orlando, Jacob Jarrett, Mike Damiano and Lee Taylor rank as the favorites to succeed Nick Varney as junior champion. Varney is too old to play this year.
Roanoke Country Club, led by Jarrett and Taylor, is favored to repeat as junior team champion.
In the seniors division, defending champion Don Foster heads a strong field that includes three-time champion Arman Fletcher, 1994 champion Ned Baber, 1993 winner J.D. Sisson and Dan Keffer, who has finished second the past two years.
Blue Hills will be gunning for a record fourth straight team title.
The 36-hole tournament concludes Friday at Water's Edge.
In other sports in the region:
* The field for the Aug.13-15 Scott Robertson Memorial at Roanoke Country Club continues to shape up as one of the strongest ever. Golf champions from 15 states, six international players and two Cannon Cup participants are scheduled to to compete in the 54-hole tournament.
Tournament entry committee chairman Miller Baber attributed the increase in national interest to two factors. The Robertson winner now will receive 30 points in the Golfweek player-of-the-year rankings, plus receive exemptions into many notable tournament in the Southeast, such as the Rolex Junior Classic, Rolex Tournament of Champions and International Junior Tournament of Champions.
* Lexington's David Brogan led a struggling VSGA Team with a 1-over-par 72 in the first rounf of the Biarritz Nations Cup in Biarritz, France. The Virginians, who got a 76 from Tazewell's Charlie Green and a 77 from Richmond's Hank Klein, trail the French Team by 12 shots heading into today's final round.
The competition is a prelude to the Biarritz Cup, one of the world's oldest amateur events. The VSGA won the inaugural team competition behind indvidual titlist Allen Barber in 1993.
* The Central Virginia AAU Express basketball team hit the jackpot recently in Las Vegas.
The Express won the Nike National Summer Prep Basketball Championship on Tuesday night by defeating the Detroit (Mich.) Superfriends 73-58. The Express competed in the Open Air Division, which includes teams of high school-age players.
Floyd County's Travis Cantrell was instrumental in a 61-57 semifinal victory over the Dallas Slamma Jamma. He scored five points, including a crucial late 3-pointer, and had six assists against Dallas. He averaged seven points and six assists in the eight-game tournament.
* National caliber softball teams will converge on Salem this weekend and play for a berth in the prestigious Major World Series tournament.
Action will take place at the Moyer Complex and Kiwanis Field, with the winner qualifying for the softball World Series in Frederick, Md.
Admission is $4 a day or $7 for a weekend pass.
* North Roanoke defeated Powhatan 7-2 Tuesday night to win the Virginia Dixie League state championship and advance to the Dixie League World Series held in Aiken, S.C. (Aug.9-16).
North Roanoke will play Saturday against the Louisiana state champions.
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