ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 29, 1996 TAG: 9608290025
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
TYPE: HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
SOURCE: ANGIE WATTS STAFF WRITER
Christiansburg High School coach Steve Shelton said he can describe his girls cross country team in one word: outstanding.
The Blue Demons are headed into their first season in the Blue Ridge District and are the only Group AA team returning all seven girls with experience at the state level.
Leading the way for Christiansburg is junior Laura Evans. Evans placed fifth in the state meet as a freshman and took ninth place last season.
"There's a lot of talent there," Shelton said. "Laura is the only girl in school history that's been all state twice and she still has two years left. She's really a good runner."
Returning alongside Evans are seniors Jenny Lambert and Christina Wolfe, both of whom bring experience to the team. But the best thing about this year's team, Shelton said, is the number of girls available for competition.
"We have 13 girls this year and I've had a lot of years of just having seven, so no matter how good or bad they were they had to run on the varsity team," Shelton said. "This year 10 or so of those girls will have a legitimate shot at challenging for the top seven spots."
A look at other area teams:
Blacksburg will spend the first half of its season in the Blue Ridge regrouping from the loss of Sara Hendricks, the 1995 Group AA state champion. In addition to Hendricks the Indians lost two other runners from last year's top five.
"We have a very young, inexperienced team," said first-year head coach Lee Cross. "But they're very talented. We have the potential to be racing well by October."
Returning for Blacksburg are sophomores Sasha Harrison and Jennifer Shepherd. They will be joined this season by seniors Erin Knocke and Liz Sullivan, and freshman Lacey Brown, the Indians No.1 runner.
"Those five look to be our frontrunners," Cross said. "We'll be looking for leadership from them and for them to score the points. But as I said the team is young and you never know who might step up.
"It will be an exciting year to say the least."
In his first year at Floyd County, coach Kim Callahan said his expectations are running high. The Buffaloes placed third in the Three Rivers District last year and return junior Johanna Neumann, a third-place finisher at the state meet in '95. Callahan said Neumann has her sights set on the state title in 1996.
"The girls should go a long way with strong leadership from Johanna," Callahan said. "We'll probably have more than one runner in the state meet ... hopefully the full team."
Ninth-graders Ryiah Cain and Sarah Goorskey will be competing in the No. 2 and No. 3 slots for the Buffaloes.
Winner of the past five Three Rivers championships, Giles shows no signs of letting up. The Spartans finished third in Group A Region C in 1996 and eighth in the state meet and aim to improve.
"I look for us to make it to state again and hopefully improve upon our showing there," coach Stacy Ramsey said. "I don't see any reason why we shouldn't."
Giles returns its top runner from 1995 in Jessica Clark, who is hampered by a pulled muscle in her back but is expected to compete. Clark took 17th in the state last year. Also returning for the Spartans are Tiffany Bowman, Charity Peters, twins Jackie and Tarah Phillips and Patience St. Ledger.
The Radford girls team will likely compete with just six runners, the same number the team carried last season. Similarly to their counterparts on the boys team, the main goal for the girls is to build up the number of athletes interested in participating.
The Bobcats took second in the Three Rivers in 1995 under the direction of third-year coach Dan Britten and advanced to the regional meet.
Leading the pack this year will be senior Charlee Taylor, the only returning team member with experience at the state level. Taylor, along with team captain Angie Williamson, will be called upon to provide leadership.
Taylor figures to have a busy autumn no matter what happens in cross country. She is also an outstanding basketball player and the leader of the Radford team.
Gone from last year's team is Carol Castleberry, who is overseas with the foreign-exchange student program.
"It would be nice to make it to regionals again," Britten said, "but we're really focusing on building up our numbers right now. We've got a lot of seventh and eighth graders involved, and we hope that continues."
A change in scoring procedure at the state level gives new life to Shawsville in 1996. Unable to field a team in years past, a new rule has been added allowing a team with less than five members to add in a last place finish to fill the empty roster spots. As a result, this year's four-person team at Shawsville will be able to record team scores in the Three Rivers District meets and beyond.
Coach Marvin Ballard, in his 14th year, said the Shawnees will count on senior Kristi Henson to set the pace. Henson returns to the No.1 spot for Shawsville where she was an all-district pick last season.
Joining Henson will be senior Jackie Cerva, who has been on the team before but has been hampered by injuries; junior Lynn Heffron; and freshman Andee Sears.
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON/Staff. Christina Wolfe (left) and Laura Evanby CNBare two of the top runners for the Christiansburg cross country
team.