ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 10, 1997 TAG: 9704100029
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: RAY COX THE ROANOKE TIMES
Christiansburg senior moves from one sport to another for the fun.
Lisa Dalton ought to be tired by now.
She's been pursuing the sporting life vigorously for four years.
Never a break. Never an off-season.
Basketball into volleyball into swimming into track-and-field and start it all over again.
Now that she's a senior, you might think she'd consider taking the last season off. Put that heavy shot put on the shelf, set that discus down and bask in the sun somewhere. Finesse her last spring in high school.
Basking doesn't seem to be in her nature, though. She'll be putting that shot and heaving that discus right down to the very last.
"I like sports,'' she said. "It's something to do besides sit around. It's fun.''
No sitting around for her. Even she can reach her limit, though. As a freshman, she was a four-sport girl, swimming in addition to her usual three of basketball, volleyball and track.
"That was pretty rough,'' she said. "A bit much.''
Going from track to swimming does sound like a prescription for exhaustion. The bright spot is that you get plenty of aerobic exercise to build up your cardio-respiratory system.
Dalton's heart and lungs were already plenty strong from playing basketball. A low-post player, she averaged 11 points and seven rebounds per game, team-leading totals in both categories this past year.
Basketball, which you don't normally think of along with shot putting and discus throwing, actually is a nice complement to those events. Anything that makes for an improvement in the quickness of footwork helps with the shot and disc.
"We've been working on improving foot quickness for Lisa,'' Christiansburg track coach Norma Cox said. "She's also been working on strength training, which also helps.''
So far this year, Dalton has hurled the discus 99 feet 9 inches and put the shot 30-10. That's about five feet off her best discus throw and a foot and a half off her best shot put.
"I'm not worried about that,'' Cox said. "It's early. Lisa is so tied up in other sports that she doesn't have time to work on shot and discus until the season is here.''
Dalton said she enjoys each of the sports for different reasons.
"I like track because it's more relaxed,'' she said. "But I think I like basketball and volleyball more because they're more fun to play.''
Once she graduates from Christiansburg, she has tentative plans to attend Radford University. She's considering taking up swimming again there as a member of the club team.
As busy as she is with sports, it makes you wonder when she has time to study. Apparently, she's hitting the books some time. She carries a 3.4 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.
"You have to compliment any athlete who can go three sports and still maintain their grades,'' Cox said.
Dalton has been to the state track meet in each of the past two years to throw the discus but has failed to place.
"Last year, I threw my personal best [104-5] at regionals,'' she said. "I thought I'd be able to throw at least 100 feet at state but I didn't. I was disappointed.''
Now, the focus is qualifying to have one more chance.
"I'd really like to place at state,'' she said.
Even if she doesn't, she's already done more athletically than most girls. And she still isn't tired.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: RAY COX THE ROANOKE TIMES. So far this year, Lisa Daltonby CNBhas hurled the discus 99 feet 9 inches and put the shot 30-10.
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