ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 7, 1996 TAG: 9611070017
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BILL RAY STAFF WRITER
When the state cross country meet is held this Saturday in Warrenton, the New River Valley will be well represented.
Three schools, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Floyd County, all advanced to the meet by finishing in the top four at regionals held last week. All that is except the Floyd County girls' team, led by Johanna Neumann who finished third in the Group A state meet last year.
When the Floyd County High School cross country team competed in the Three Rivers District meet in Radford two weeks ago, their performance was no surprise. The girls took the district title and the boys tied with Glenvar for first place.
The surprise came later when the girls' title was stripped by the Virginia High School League on a technicality, a technicality Coach Kim Callahan thought he had taken care of.
According to VHSL rules, a team must have five runners physically in the event or the team score does not count. Callahan, however, was told by meet officials prior to the race he was allowed to enter only four runners with the understanding that his fifth runner's time would be last place.
Although Callahan explained the situation in an appeal to the VHSL, it was not good enough for the governing body of Virginia high school athletics. Officials told Callahan no exceptions could be made, no matter who had been at fault.
"We had enough girls on the roster," Callahan said. "But some couldn't make it on that day. We weren't worried about changing that situation because we had been told it wasn't a problem."
The individual scores did stand and both Neumann and Michelle Quesenberry went on to finish first and fifth respectively in the Region C meet Oct. 31. However it did take the team out of the running for a state title.
"It has been a great season for [Neumann]," Callahan said. "She is a strong athlete who always works hard and is constantly pushing herself. She is an honor student and her real focus is on academics."
As for his boys' team, Callahan said the absence of his No. 2 runner Ryan Turman hurt the team in the district meet. But with Turman healthy, Callahan says he has high expectations for the team. In their regional meet, the boys pulled off a third place finish, with Brian Porter finishing fourth and Justin Lucas tenth.
"I knew the girls would be strong," Callahan said. "We have had some great individual performances. We have gotten our No. 2 runner back on the boys team and that will help a lot.
"The key all season has been keeping a fun atmosphere."
Callahan has been particularly impressed with the effort of both his teams, especially the boys.
"They are not made up of individual runners," he said. "They get together on the course and finish strong."
Also competing Saturday in Warrenton from the New River Valley will be teams from both Blacksburg and Christiansburg. In the Region IV meet Oct. 30 at Virginia Tech the Blacksburg boys finished first behind the second place individual performance of Clay Schwabe.
The Christiansburg girls' team also took first in the region with Laura Dangerfield winning the individual title closely followed by teammate Laura Evans in third.
The Blacksburg girls advanced with a third place team finish in the region, while the Christiansburg boys also moved on with their fourth place performance. The Christiansburg boys will be defending their 1995 AA state title Saturday.
The top four teams and top 15 individuals from each region are eligible for the state meet.
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